But For the Grace of Ron
by Allaine
Summary: Exiled from her time and trapped in a past she doesn't recognize, the Supreme One from Sitch in Time wants to resurrect her future and destroy Team Possible.  But what if stopping her means Kim and Shego  never met?
1. Chapter One

Title: But For the Grace of Ron (1/??)  
Author: Allaine

Rating: PG-13

Spoilers: Takes place after "No Living in the Past". Knowledge of the events in "A Sitch in Time" would be helpful. "Go Team Go" is not a part of this continuity.  
Feedback: Some of you have been extremely helpful, and I hope you'll continue to do so. New reader opinions are encouraged too!  
Disclaimers: Kim Possible, Ron Stoppable, Shego, Wade, and all other characters from the Kim Possible television series belong to Disney, its television production arm, and the creators and producers of the animated series. All original characters are my invention. I seek no profit from writing this, and expect none.  
Summary: Exiled from her time and trapped in a past she doesn't recognize, the Supreme One from "Sitch in Time" wants to resurrect her future and destroy Team Possible. But what if stopping her means Kim and Shego - never met?

* * *

Chapter 1  
  
Monique sighed. Just because you were a manager didn't necessarily mean you could set your own schedule.  
  
She turned her head and looked at the clock on the wall. Thankfully, Club Banana would be closing in five minutes. Then she could lock the doors, close the register, clean up the store . . . and then go home and change into her Oryx costume.  
  
All, mind you, on a Saturday night.  
  
She sighed once more for effect. She'd considered stopping at the Planetarium, but she knew Kim and Shego were on a date there tonight. This was one of those times they wanted to be alone there, and Monique knew she'd just raise Shego's hackles if the former mercenary spotted her there. Girl had a possessive streak a mile long when it came to Kim Possible.  
  
Monique smiled. Shego didn't like sharing, but in truth, it was Kim who owned her pale butt completely. And even if Ron didn't like Shego, at least he'd gotten his brains unfrozen and stopped judging Kim over it. Maybe she'd give him a scare later. After all, he wouldn't be anywhere near the nightclub tonight either. He might have adjusted to the Kim/Shego relationship, but she knew it still got to him when he saw them all over each other.  
  
Then she heard a noise from the front of store. It was an unmistakable sound. It was the sound of commerce, of possible Club Banana profits, of someone doing their miniscule part to help the American economy.  
  
It was the sound of Monique's night getting even later. She had a customer.  
  
She pounded her head softly on the countertop. "Why, why?" she grumbled.  
  
Monique took her elbows off the counter and straightened. She'd track this person down and, oh, maybe gently remind them that Club Banana was closing soon? Not that company policy allowed her to kick a possible sale out unless it was _really_ late.  
  
It took her a few moments to find her, but a flash of green caught her eye. "Hi, welcome to Club - Banana?" Monique asked, stopping.  
  
The woman looked over her shoulder. "I can manage," she muttered.  
  
"Shego?"  
  
The Supreme One flung her cape over one shoulder. She'd reversed it so that the black side was facing outward and used it to hide her outfit from the passers-by. A newspaper box had confirmed that she had traveled almost fifteen years backwards. Why, she didn't know. Obviously something had happened to the Tempus Simia - damaged, even destroyed. It must have had a catastrophic effect on the timestream, and the ripple had evidently caught her bare seconds from hitting the ground.  
  
Whatever problems she had now, the fact remained that the loss of her "time monkey" had also saved her life.  
  
That being said, she couldn't be sure how the past had been affected. Her plans for global domination might still be in action in this timeline. Which meant she had plenty of resources she could access with a few phone calls. Unfortunately, she had no phone and no cash. And her clothes would only draw attention.  
  
Therefore, her first priority had been to find an open clothing store and steal everything she needed. Her thieving skills might be a little rusty - the Supreme One merely took what she wanted, or had it handed to her - but she could certainly kick one salesgirl's ass and jimmy a cash register. The fact that she'd chosen what would still one day become her beloved Club Shego struck her as appropriate.  
  
What was unexpected was hearing her name said out loud.  
  
The Supreme One faced Monique. She DID seem vaguely familiar. Their paths must have crossed when she was younger. "Yeah?" she asked.  
  
Monique just stared at Shego. Since when had she started wearing a _cape_? And since when had she dyed white streaks in her _hair_?  
  
And Shego was supposed to be out with Kim all night tonight. She was expected to believe that Shego would leave Kim _alone_ somewhere and make a pit stop at Club Banana?  
  
Monique had not been born yesterday. There was no way this was Shego. And yet she looked just like her!  
  
"Sorry," Monique said. "Didn't realize it was you. I'll just be, uh, straightening the racks. Let me know when you're ready, okay? I can, er, use my employee discount."  
  
Then she turned around and headed for the back room. What she needed was in there.  
  
The Supreme One watched her leave as alarm bells went off in her head. This girl - whoever she was - evidently recognized the famous criminal. Which meant she was going to call the police.  
  
A green glow caressed one hand as her gloves charged up and she followed the salesgirl.  
  
Monique heard her coming. "Fuck it," she said, and she broke into a run.  
  
Snarling, the Supreme One ran after her.  
  
Barreling through the door marked Employees Only, Monique dove for the small employee fridge.  
  
As Shego pursued her inside, Monique opened the refrigerator door, retrieved the bottle of Diet Coke she'd left inside, shook it vigorously, and sprayed the contents right into Shego's face.  
  
Shego braked to a stop and screeched. She shook her head, looked down at herself, and glared at Monique. "Carbonated soda?" she growled. "Look, I am NOT a _clone_!"  
  
"Maybe you're the new improved one, because no way are you Shego," Monique said, assuming a defensive stance. She noticed the green hands. That just proved this wasn't Shego, because she hadn't _had_ her special gloves since they'd been confiscated by - "What are you, some forgotten Acceptable experiment?"  
  
"I don't have to tell you jack shit, kid," Shego snapped angrily. "I just have to kick your ass."  
  
"After you've traded jabs with the real thing, what's the thrill in fighting with the fake?" Monique retorted.  
  
The Supreme One's eyes widened at the odd remark, and Monique sprang at her, chopping her across the cheek with an open hand.  
  
"You are so toast," Shego hissed.  
  
Their fight took out several shelves of back stock, including one blouse that caught fire and was kicked aside, landing in some fallen clothes. Such is how fires can be started.  
  
As for the Supreme One's fires, they burned hotter with every failed swipe of her claws. The salesgirl's moves were much better than she'd imagined, and they did seem _awfully_ familiar. Not to mention that her own attacks were being anticipated in a way they shouldn't have been.  
  
Still, Shego had many more years of experience, and eventually she slammed her heel against Monique's chin, jarring her skull and knocking her out cold. She tripped over her own feet and fell backwards.  
  
"This night just gets better and better," the Supreme One muttered. She bent over and took a good look at Monique's features. The answer eluded her, however. "I guess it's not important," she said. She went back to the main floor for a minute, retrieving Monique's purse from under the counter and bringing it back.  
  
"Monique," she said, testing the name on her tongue as she looked at the drivers' license. "I know I've seen . . . "  
  
_Now_ she remembered. "Well, isn't THAT a coincidence?" she murmured sourly. Just as the Supreme One had been about to begin torturing Kim Possible, an African woman had interfered. "Monique," Kimmie had called her. "Old friend." And something about Australia?  
  
She shrugged and pulled Monique's cell phone out. The girl was going to have to die anyway, but by getting rid of her now, the Supreme One would have one less troublemaker to worry about some day.  
  
Except how did Monique know her in the current year? She could have seen Shego on TV, and perhaps Kim had told her about the villainess, but why did Monique offer her an "employee discount"?  
  
Frowning, she pushed the button for Monique's list of phone numbers. Three names leapt out at her. The first two had been expected. The third one had not.  
  
KIM

RON

SHEGO  
  
"What the hell?!" Shego asked.  
  
Seeing the name of Kim's sidekick had at least jarred a much older memory loose. Now the Supreme One understood the Australia reference, as she recalled how she'd seen this girl on the very day the "Three Stooges of Villainy" retrieved the head of the Tempus Simia from the Outback. She'd been filling in for the sidekick. Monique had been very good at running, hiding, and screaming, Shego recalled. In short, a perfect stand-in for Ron Stoppable.  
  
No wonder she'd fought well years later. Monique here was friends with Team Possible.  
  
But still, how did she know Shego well enough to have her on speed dial?  
  
This answer, the Supreme One realized, could be answered very easily. After all, she had her younger self's phone number.  
  
First she took the money from Monique's wallet. Grabbing clothes in her size, she stuffed them in a bag and tossed the rest of the purse aside. Then she went to check on Monique, who was still out cold.  
  
"I should kill you for the soda alone," the Supreme One muttered. "I mean, a clone?! Ugh! Besides, it _would_ make Kim miserable." She grinned evilly. Kim in pain was very good. But Kim in the ground would be even better.  
  
She wrinkled her nose. What was that smell?  
  
Shego looked to her right and finally realized that a fire was gradually spreading along the floor.  
  
She smiled again as she looked down at Monique. Then she ripped the phone cord out of the wall. Spying a fire extinguisher nearby, she took it and, reopening the door to the shop floor, casually tossed it through. "You've got potential, Monique," she said. "But, see, that's the thing with potential. It doesn't mean anything - if you're not alive long enough to do something with it."  
  
The Supreme One grabbed Monique's wrists and dragged her closer to the fire. Then, igniting her claws, she used the plasma fire to solder the emergency back door shut. Taking the bag with the clothes, she waved mockingly to Monique's unconscious form and strolled out. One more swipe from her glove rendered the doorknob on the other door inoperable.  
  
"Evil is so much more fun when you don't outsource it," the Supreme One said as she dialed Shego's number and left the store. She thoughtfully put the CLOSED sign up as she left.

* * *

Shego leaned against the bar and smiled. Her beer sat next to her, untouched. Alcohol was nice and all, but the thrill of waiting for Kimmie to come back from the restroom was better.  
  
They'd just re-enacted their first dance moments ago, swaying to the old Church song. The only difference was that their bodies had been pressed even more tightly together. Oh, and there had been no reason for the two to pull away from each other when the music stopped.  
  
That is, until Kim announced she had to use the restroom. "Alone," she'd said, undoubtedly thinking of when Shego had followed her into a stall.  
  
Shego chuckled. Why, didn't Kim _want_ them to share close quarters? Maybe this would be the first night where the two could share a bed as more than friends, she reflected. She wasn't expecting sex just yet - Shego acknowledged that neither woman felt completely ready for that.  
  
But there were plenty of things they felt more than ready for. Things that required a closed door.  
  
Of course, cotton sheets were better than a smelly ladies' room.  
  
Then her phone rang. Aggravated, she pulled it out. Kim had convinced geek-boy that Shego ought to have her own "Kimmunicator". Since Kim, Ron, and Monique all had their own, she'd also suggested they be modified so that they could all contact each other, or even all at once. The only reason Shego didn't have hers yet - why nobody had their Kimmunicator at the moment, in fact - was that Monique had gotten hers when she became "Oryx". At the time, Kim had been in college and Shego had been incarcerated, so Wade hadn't bothered to make her Kimmunicator compatible with the others. He'd promised that he would only need a day to recalibrate the four devices so that they'd all be completely in sync with one another.  
  
"Whoever this is, I'm busy," Shego snapped as she answered the phone.  
  
"Remember that alley when you were nineteen?" the caller asked. "After you failed to get the job working for Master Blaster?"  
  
Shego froze. She'd never told _anyone_ about that night, just like she'd sworn. "I - remember," she whispered.  
  
"You owe me. Roof of Middleton Bank. Thirty minutes. Come alone. I need something."  
  
"But - "  
  
"You OWE me. I'll find you anyway. So be there."  
  
Shego stared at the phone as the connection was cut. She realized her heart was pounding. "Holy shit," she said.  
  
"I'm glad I get that kind of reaction from you."  
  
She hadn't even noticed Kim standing there. "Hey," she said, licking her lips. Kim _did_ look exceedingly hot tonight.  
  
"Who was it?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"On the phone. Who called?"  
  
"Oh," Shego said slowly. She couldn't tell Kim. The called said "alone". "Monique," she finally said, randomly choosing a name.  
  
Kim blinked. "Monique? Why?"  
  
"Look, Kim, I've gotta call tonight off," Shego said, inwardly cursing the luck. "I've got an emergency to take care of. Tomorrow?"  
  
"Shego," Kim said, confused. "Is Monique in trouble?"  
  
"No, it's just - look, I can't explain."  
  
"But - " Kim began to ask, but Shego stopped her by pulling her close and kissing her passionately. Kim felt it in her toes and she melted against Shego. "Wow," she whispered when Shego stopped. "Shego - "  
  
Shego vanished into the crowd before she could say anything else.  
  
Kim looked around wildly. "Shego? Shego?!"  
  
By the time she fought her way outside, Shego was nowhere to be seen. "Damn it, Shego," she muttered. "What's the drama this time?"

* * *

Shego was five minutes early. Her mind was reeling. Could this be the same person? The one who had mysteriously materialized years ago? The one who had helped make Shego what she became, who she was? She'd left yet another criminal's lair that night, still determined to become infamous as well some day. But she needed to get in on the ground floor, and so far she'd failed to get hired by anyone as a henchperson. A slip of a girl? Even with a few moves, why gamble on her when there were always a dozen brawny men waiting?  
  
Shego had supposed she could make it on her own, but she'd needed publicity. She'd needed the spotlight. Or she'd just be your typical ordinary crook. Master Blaster, with his "themed" heists, was her latest attempt to snatch an ounce of that spotlight. Like the others, though, he'd sent her away in the end.  
  
And then a faceless shadow offered to open the door for her . . .  
  
"You're early."  
  
Shego jumped. "So are you," she finally said to the figure who, if it was indeed the same person, was once again shrouded in darkness. "So what's all this about?"  
  
"What else did I offer you that night?" the mystery man whispered. "Besides the gift, that is."  
  
Shego stiffened. "Fashion advice," she finally said. "You told me to - "  
  
The person stepped out where Shego could see her, and Shego gasped, taking a step back. "I told you to wear something bold," the Supreme One said. "Something to catch the eye. They won't always remember your name, but they'll always remember the clothes. Then they remember the name." She grinned, spreading her arms and posing, having decided not to change into her stolen Club Banana clothes just yet. "You did make _such_ a great choice, you know."  
  
"You - you're me!" Shego said, stunned.  
  
"Ironic, huh? You always wondered who gave you your gloves, and all along it was you."  
  
To be continued . . .  
  
Author's Note - This is a slightly edited first chapter. Last night I was reviewing the third part of "A Sitch in Time" when I realized Monique identified herself in Shego's hearing. Certainly the memory of her defeat would be fresh enough that the Supreme One would immediately identify her name. So I made a change.  
  
As for temporal mechanics, time travel, and paradoxes, I feel very confident that by the end of this story, everything will be explained within reason. I would remind my readers, however, that the "ASiT" movie didn't do a very good job logically explaining how time was being manipulated. So I _am_ working from a shaky foundation.  
  
Lastly, I am continuing to ignore the events in "Go Team Go", and I expect to ignore said events for the remainder of these stories.


	2. Chapter Two

Title: But For the Grace of Ron (2/??)  
Author: Allaine

Rating: PG-13

Spoilers: Takes place after "No Living in the Past". Knowledge of the events in "A Sitch in Time" would be helpful.  
Feedback: Some of you have been extremely helpful, and I hope you'll continue to do so. New reader opinions are encouraged too!  
Disclaimers: Kim Possible, Ron Stoppable, Shego, Wade, and all other characters from the Kim Possible television series belong to Disney, its television production arm, and the creators and producers of the animated series. All original characters are my invention. I seek no profit from writing this, and expect none.  
Summary: Exiled from her time and trapped in a past she doesn't recognize, the Supreme One from "Sitch in Time" wants to resurrect her future and destroy Team Possible. But what if stopping her means Kim and Shego - never met?

* * *

Chapter 2  
  
Shego clenched her fists. "I don't know how you found out about that night, but you can tell whoever created you that I'm not falling for it. They couldn't even get my hair right!"  
  
"Why does everyone tonight think I'm a CLONE?!" the Supreme One snarled. "Look, if I'm a fake, then how do you explain _these_?" She threw her hands out, forcibly reminding Shego that they were still glowing with green fire. "Have you _ever_ met _anyone_ capable of replicating these?"  
  
Shego froze. "No," she said, well aware of this fact after Senior Senior had failed to duplicate her stolen gloves.  
  
"So?"  
  
"Let's just say," Shego said indifferently, recovering her cool, "that you're not a clone. What the hell are you?"  
  
"Doy. Have you been listening? I said I'm you. Or at least, I used to be."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"I'm from the future."  
  
Shego looked surprised. "Time travel?"  
  
"Well, let's face it, we've already established that modern technology isn't capable of creating these," the Supreme One said.  
  
"But how could you give me my gloves?" Shego asked suspiciously. "You didn't even exist yet!"  
  
"The fabric of time isn't really a fabric. It's more a stretchy roll of spandex with no beginning or ending."  
  
"You're losing me."  
  
"Yeah, I know, I felt the same way when I first met myself."  
  
Shego looked utterly bewildered.  
  
The Supreme One sighed. "Hey, how about this? How about you let me talk for a couple minutes, and whenever I'm done, then it'll be question time. Okay?"  
  
"Mmm-hmm," Shego said noncommittally. "I realize you have all the time in the world, but I kinda had plans tonight."  
  
"I took over the world," the Supreme One said impatiently.  
  
Shego's eyes became huge.  
  
"I took over the world," the Supreme One repeated, "and you can too. _Now_ will you shut up and listen?"

* * *

Kim was waiting anxiously outside the Planetarium when Ron finally pulled up behind Sadie's wheel. "Thanks, Ron," she said gratefully as she climbed in.  
  
"No prob, KP," Ron said. "Where's - you know, her?"  
  
Kim let it slide. "Missing. Everything was going great, and then she got a phone call and went rushing out."  
  
"Any ideas where she went?"  
  
"She mentioned Monique before she left," Kim said. "She should be closing Club Banana at this hour. Let's go there first."  
  
"Of course, Kim," Sadie said. The car started moving without Ron needing to touch the pedals or the wheel. "Searching for Shego," the car continued. "This brings back memory files."  
  
"Huh?" Ron asked.  
  
But Kim nodded. "The night Shego flew Sappho to Drakken's hideout, I didn't know where she'd gone. Sadie drove me all over Middleton so I could look for her."  
  
"Why did she go anyway?" Ron slapped his face. "Sorry, no pun intended."  
  
"Well, um, because . . . that was the night she first kissed me," she said awkwardly. "I didn't respond too well, and she took off."  
  
Ron's silence spoke volumes, and Kim shook her head.  
  
"Did you try calling Monique?" Ron finally asked.  
  
"Phone's off."  
  
"I didn't realize she _ever_ turned her phone off."  
  
"Neither did I," Kim said, "which makes me more worried than ever.

* * *

Monique groaned as she crawled onto her hands and knees. She spat blood onto the floor and rubbed her chin. "Bitch," she growled. "Could have ruined this girl's perfect smile."  
  
She rubbed her eyes in an attempt to clear her vision, which was hazy. She failed, however, and realized it had nothing to do with her eyes.  
  
The room was on fire.  
  
"Oh, crap," she whispered.  
  
Scrambling to her feet, she swayed and almost pitched over into some flames. Evidently she was still dazed from the shot she'd taken to the head. Collecting herself, Monique stumbled toward where the fire extinguisher was kept.  
  
And it was missing.  
  
"Correction - oh, _shit_," she said.  
  
There were only two doors out of the room - the back door, and the one leading to the sales area. She headed for the back door first, but her impending sense of doom grew when she saw that the opening mechanism had been damaged somehow, preventing her from opening it. And it was too heavy to force open.  
  
Coughing, Monique reeled as she spun around and headed back toward the door leading further into the store. She could only hope the entire building wasn't on fire.  
  
She managed to find her way through the smoke to the other door, but the knob was busted. "That clone's paying for this," she muttered as she took two steps back, then kicked forward as powerfully as she could. The door shook on its hinges but held.  
  
There was a dent in the door that was noticeable even through the smoke three kicks later, but she hadn't opened it yet, and the smoke she was inhaling was starting to interfere with her ability to breathe, much less bash the door in. Monique held one hand over her mouth as she rubbed at her eyes, which were stinging with tears. She'd never needed help on the pitch-black streets of Middleton as Oryx, but she needed it now. She tried to draw breath to scream, but the smoke made her choke, and she fell heavily to her knees.  
  
"Kim," she whispered. "Ron. Help - me . . ."

* * *

"Store looks dead," Ron said as they screeched to a halt in front of Club Banana.  
  
"I hope not," Kim replied. "Sadie, could you run a scan of the building interior, see if anyone's inside?"  
  
"I can run a thermal scan," Sadie replied. There was a pause. "No thermal signatures detected. However, there is an unusual concentration of heat in the rear of the store."  
  
"Not to mention the smoke coming out of the roof," Ron realized, stunned.  
  
"Fire!" Kim shouted. "Call 911!" She flew out of the car and ran for the doors. They opened easily, and she ran toward the back of the store. "Monique!!! SHEGO!!!"  
  
The thick smoke coming through the crack underneath the employees' only door showed her where to go. She ran at the door at full-speed and hit it with a flying double kick, smashing it open. She reared back, greeted with intense heat and flames - and the sight of a young, dark-skinned woman on the floor.  
  
"Monique!" Kim gasped, horrified. She beat back the flames with a nearby dress and ran inside. Grabbing Monique by the wrists, she pulled the unconscious woman out. Once they were clear of the fire, Kim managed to pick Monique up and carry her outside.  
  
"Oh man, oh man," Ron whispered as he saw Monique's unresponsive face when Kim emerged. "Is she - "  
  
"Haven't had time to check for a pulse," Kim grunted. "Sadie, open the back."  
  
The all-terrain vehicle opened its rear, and Kim lay Monique down on her back. She put her fingers to Monique's neck. "She's still alive," she said, slightly relieved. "But we need to get her to the hospital _right now_."  
  
"Firemen on their way," Ron told her.  
  
"Good. There's nothing left for us here. Ron, go with Sadie. I'll be there as soon as I can."  
  
"What?!"  
  
"Shego could still be inside," Kim said quietly. She didn't bother to say anything more. Instead she raced back inside.  
  
Ron looked amazed.  
  
"Ron?"  
  
"You heard what she said, Sadie. Monique needs treatment. Let's hurry."

* * *

"Let me get this straight," Shego said dubiously. "You - uh, what do I call you? I can't exactly call you Shego. That's a little too high on the confusion scale."  
  
"In my world, I was known as the Supreme One," she replied.  
  
Shego frowned. "Works well on me, but you're nuts if you think I'll call you that. Anyway, you're saying that six years ago, Drakken, Duff Killagan, and Monkey Fist united in order to steal the 'Tempus Simia', which could send someone to any time and place ever. But they got sidetracked by one of Dr. Dr's stupid plans, and Kim Possible ended up beating them - again. Only you kept the Time Monkey for yourself, because _your_ future self told you to."  
  
"Exactly," the Supreme One said.  
  
"Still not sure how you could tell yourself to get the Time Monkey when you didn't have it in the past yet," Shego noted.  
  
"Because," the Supreme One sighed, "I got the Monkey in the past. Years and years later, after I'd used the powers of the Monkey to make myself ruler of Earth, I then used the Monkey to travel back and tell my younger self the same thing that I was told by my _older_ self."  
  
"Headache," Shego grumbled, grabbing her forehead. "And so you could travel through time. How did that lead to world domination?"  
  
"Come on, Shego, think about it! Knowledge of the future? Do you realize how much money there was to be made in it? I knew _exactly_ when to buy all the hot tech stocks when they were cheap, and when to sell at their peak before the dot-com bubble burst! I knew which politicians' palms to grease, where the next big mineral strikes were, even who was going to win the Super Bowl! By the time ol' Monty got the idea of stealing the Time Monkey - I don't like to brag, by the way - "  
  
"Since when?" Shego asked.

The Supreme One grinned naughtily. "All right, so I like to brag and lie. Anyway, the bright idea to work together and steal the Monkey? Mine," she said smugly.  
  
"You set the whole thing in motion," Shego realized. "Started the ball rolling. It's like writing your own life story, except you wrote it backwards."  
  
"And that's the closest you've come to it," the Supreme One agreed. "Anyway, by the time the Three Stooges were making their historically stupid alliance, I was already the richest woman on Earth. I funneled a lot of it into research and development, evil focus groups, that sort of thing. These are just one of the things my money made possible," she said, showing the gloves off. "Mind-control collars - that was a big step."  
  
Shego shuddered. "After what Drakken did to me - you - _us_ with his mind control chip twice, I'm surprised you could even look at them."  
  
The Supreme One raised an eyebrow. "Twice?"  
  
"Well, yeah, you remember. The first time when he made me wear that frilly apron, and the second time in Mexico, after he broke out of prison." Shego stared at the Supreme One. "You don't know what I'm talking about, do you?"  
  
"I remember the apron," the Supreme One muttered. "And believe me, I enjoyed putting the collar around HIS neck. But he chipped you _again_? When did this happen?"  
  
"A couple months ago."  
  
"Ah," the Supreme One said, as if this made it obvious.  
  
"Ah _what_? If you're my future, how come you didn't know that?!"  
  
The Supreme One scowled. "Because the world I created for you doesn't exist any more. And it's all the fault of - "  
  
"Don't tell me, let me guess," Shego said sarcastically. "Kim Possible."  
  
"No, although she was involved. No, it's all because of Ron Stoppable," the Supreme One snarled.  
  
This had been a night for surprises, but the last remark just blew Shego away. "I'm sorry, what? Stoppable? You had the world in the palm of your hand, and you lost it because of _Ron Stoppable_?! What kind of loser am I supposed to BECOME in my old age?"  
  
"Shove it, all right?" the Supreme One retorted. "They both followed me to the future, and just when I was about to win, Stoppable found out what I did to him."  
  
"Which was what?"  
  
"The reason those clowns were able to steal the Time Monkey was because I broke up Team Possible," the Supreme One explained. "I used my ownership of a bank to have Stoppable's mother transferred to Scandinavia. He had to follow, and Kim couldn't beat them on her own. Can't explain it, but they do seem to work together better. Anyway, when he found out, he suddenly went all kung fu on us, and next thing I knew . . . "  
  
Shego was flabbergasted. It appeared Ron wasn't completely useless after all, and she'd heard it from her own lips. "Next thing you knew what?" she asked, her mouth dry.  
  
The Supreme One shrugged. "Kim pushed me out a window. I fell. I should have died, I guess, but the Time Monkey was shattered, and - I'm no expert on temporal mechanics, but I guess when the Monkey was destroyed, it changed the past, and the ripple effect must have affected me just as I was about to hit the ground. So instead of not existing like the rest of it, I was ripped out of time and left here."  
  
"Kim _killed_ you?"  
  
"Well, she tried." The Supreme One chuckled. "Guess she's not so sweet and innocent, after all."  
  
"And what, now you want to return the favor?" Shego asked. "Kill them both?"  
  
"Something like that. Actually I added a third person to my hit list, but she's dead by now."  
  
Shego stared at her. "Who?"  
  
"A girl named Monique. In the future she became one of the rebels who were a constant thorn in my side. It was payback time when we met tonight," the Supreme One told her. "She's dead now, either by burning or smoke inhalation."  
  
"You did _what_?!" Shego shrieked. "Your future doesn't even exist any more! She won't even become the person you fought with!"  
  
"Maybe, but she fought well tonight. Probably idolizes her friend Kimmie, wants to be like her some day. I just removed that possibility." The Supreme One folded her arms. "How the hell did she get your phone number, anyway? Just what the hell have YOU been doing the past few years?"  
  
Shego didn't even hear her. Damn her for being weak, but she'd respected Monique. She _would_ have been a great warrior some day, with Shego's training. And Kim - she'd be devastated when her friend turned up dead. Making Kim sad was NOT the way to get into Shego's good graces.  
  
She felt herself grabbed roughly by the shoulders. "I said what have you been doing with yourself?!" the Supreme One demanded. "Have you gone _soft_?!"  
  
"No!" Shego snapped, pulling away. "While you were off playing the big shot, I was a captive for four years of a group of sickos called the Acceptable Family."  
  
"The Acceptables, huh?"  
  
"You _know_ them?"  
  
"Not any more, but yeah, I did. They tried to take me on when I kicked my plans into full gear. But they were easy pickings," the Supreme One sneered.  
  
"Sorry. I didn't have a billion dollars' worth of technology at my disposal," Shego muttered.  
  
"Are you kidding? The gloves alone cost over a hundred million to develop!"  
  
"A hundred million? _Dollars_?"  
  
"No, pesos. Of course, dollars! Still," she acknowledged, "five on one isn't good odds, and they WERE tough. How'd you get away?"  
  
"I escaped," Shego said, "after they thought I was no longer a threat."  
  
"Why would anyone ever think you're not a threat?"  
  
"They took my gloves, that's why."  
  
The Supreme One exploded. "They WHAT?! Those were one-of-a-kind! How the hell did they get them?! You and I both know they're equipped with a locking mechanism, and only you and I know how to unlock them. Without that knowledge, they can't be removed. Which is why you could never be held prisoner for long - the guards couldn't figure out how to deactivate the gloves. What were you thinking?!"  
  
"I was _thinking_," Shego shot back, "that when they said they'd chop my hands OFF and figure the mechanism out themselves, they were pretty _fucking_ serious!"  
  
" . . . All right, I see your point. So how does Monique fit in?"  
  
Considering her lunatic older self wanted Kim dead, Shego figured telling the Supreme One that she was dating Kim would not be wise.  
  
"I've been lying low," Shego lied smoothly. "Without my gloves, I'm not as powerful as I used to be. I tried going back to Drakken, but he just tried to take control of my mind again, and I kicked his ass. So now I'm pretending to go straight so I can spy on Kim Possible and figure out how to destroy her. Befriending Monique was part of that. It's really messing with Kimmie's head."  
  
"Behind the scenes chaos. I like it. Hell, I practiced it for years," the Supreme One said approvingly. "Well, now there's two of us, not one. AND I have the gloves, even if you don't. So how about we forget the psychological warfare, and move on to something more direct?"  
  
"Like what?"  
  
"Search. And destroy."  
  
Shego was afraid of that.  
  
To be continued . . .


	3. Chapter Three

Title: But For the Grace of Ron (3/??)  
Author: Allaine

Rating: PG-13

Spoilers: Takes place after "No Living in the Past". Knowledge of the events in "A Sitch in Time" would be helpful.  
Feedback: Some of you have been extremely helpful, and I hope you'll continue to do so. New reader opinions are encouraged too!  
Disclaimers: Kim Possible, Ron Stoppable, Shego, Wade, and all other characters from the Kim Possible television series belong to Disney, its television production arm, and the creators and producers of the animated series. All original characters are my invention. I seek no profit from writing this, and expect none.  
Summary: Exiled from her time and trapped in a past she doesn't recognize, the Supreme One from "Sitch in Time" wants to resurrect her future and destroy Team Possible. But what if stopping her means Kim and Shego - never met?

* * *

Chapter 3  
  
"Hey, Ron," Kim said as she entered Monique's hospital room, her voice slightly hoarse.  
  
"KP!" he yelped, startled as he leapt from the chair he'd been sitting in, his back to the door as he watched Monique sleep. "I mean, KP," he said guiltily, casting a look at Monique. "Quiet, she's asleep."  
  
"How is she?" Kim asked, worried.  
  
"She'll live," Ron said. "The doctors want to keep her tonight for observation, but other than smoke inhalation and some swelling in her jaw, she's going to be fine."  
  
Kim exhaled. "That's one good thing," she said. Monique's condition had weighed heavily on her mind during the trip here. Among other things.  
  
Ron finally took a good look at her. "Geez, Kim, what happened to you?"  
  
"No big. I just ruined a good weekend ensemble," Kim said, taking a seat. There were sooty patches on both her clothes and her skin. She also had bandages around her left forearm.  
  
"No big?" Ron asked dubiously, looking pointedly at her bandages.  
  
She sighed. "No sign of Shego inside Club Banana, or anyone else for that matter," she told him. "I got burned when some debris almost fell on me. Guess I kept looking a minute too long." Kim looked away. "The place was gutted, so I guess Mo's out of a job for a while."  
  
"Something tells me you're more worried about Shego than Monique's job," Ron said.  
  
"Where is she?" Kim asked helplessly. "Why did she suddenly disappear with Monique's name on her lips?"  
  
"Maybe Monique called her before she passed out in the fire," Ron suggested.  
  
"But then why wouldn't Shego bring me along?" Kim wondered. She rubbed her eyes. "I hate the way we keep getting separated."  
  
Ron cocked his head. "You don't like being away from Shego for long, do you?"  
  
Kim blushed.  
  
"Girl's - majorly - crushing - Shego."  
  
Kim and Ron both swiveled their heads to see Monique gazing at them from her bed. "Monique!" Kim gasped. "How are you feeling?"  
  
"Feeling like - I ate - a pound of sand," Monique whispered as they sat closer. "Water?"  
  
Ron was immediately there with a glass and a straw. Monique sipped the water. "Thanks," she said with a bit more volume.  
  
"Is there any pain? Should I call the doctor?" Kim asked.  
  
Monique shook her head imperceptibly. "Where's Shego?"  
  
Kim and Ron glanced at each other. "We don't know," Kim said. "Why, do you?"  
  
"Nope," Monique said, and Kim sagged. "Met her clone, though."  
  
"See, it's not so bad," Ron told Kim as the redhead gaped at Monique. "Even if we don't know where Shego is, at least we know where her - wait, did you say CLONE?"  
  
Monique nodded. "I think so . . . she came into Club Banana . . . but she looked a little different."  
  
"Different how?" Kim asked intently.  
  
"White streaks in her hair," Monique said. "And she didn't recognize me . . . figured her for a clone, so I ran."  
  
"When did this happen?"  
  
"About five minutes before closing."  
  
Kim nodded. "Shego and I were together at the Planetarium then, so it couldn't have been her. Someone must have created a clone. Couldn't have been Drakken, he's in GJ custody."  
  
"Maybe she's an older model," Ron guessed. "She has white in her hair."  
  
"One other difference . . . I sprayed her with Coke but she didn't melt."  
  
"No melting?" Kim asked, confused. Monique had done the smart thing - Kim had warned her once about Drakken's cloning history and his creations' fatal weakness. "Maybe someone figured out how to prevent the effect."  
  
"Maybe she wasn't a clone," Ron said.  
  
"What else could she be?"  
  
Ron didn't have a response.  
  
"So then what happened?" Kim asked Monique.  
  
"We fought, she won, I passed out. When I came to, the room was on fire, the doors were stuck, and I couldn't get out," Monique said quietly.  
  
"Shego wouldn't leave someone to die like that," Kim said.  
  
"Evidently this Shego came with a few less compunctions," Ron replied.  
  
"So where's _my_ Shego?" Kim asked.  
  
"What do you mean?" Monique asked.  
  
"Shego went running from the Planetarium a little while after you would have first seen the copy," Kim said.  
  
Monique frowned. "Maybe the clone got to her too."  
  
Kim shivered. She didn't like the sound of that. Not one bit.

* * *

"This is it?" the Supreme One asked doubtfully as she took in her surroundings.  
  
"Hey, sorry if my place isn't 'supreme' enough for you," Shego shot back, her nerves still frayed. "I don't have billions of dollars to spend on arrangements like some people do."  
  
"Settle down."  
  
"No, I don't think I will," Shego said. "I'm still waiting to hear why I should help you."  
  
The Supreme One stared at her. "Uh, hello? Did I not mention, death of Kim Possible?"  
  
"Like I've never heard anyone promise THAT before," Shego said, rolling her eyes to hide her growing fear. The Supreme One struck her as just a tad insane, and she worried about what the older woman might do if Shego left her alone. "I seem to recall you promising I could rule the world earlier?"  
  
"Only worried about yourself, huh?" the Supreme One asked, grinning.  
  
"Considering you're me, I'm only worried about one myself - this one," Shego replied, pointing at her chest. "Tell me how you're going to make me into you."  
  
The Supreme One shrugged. "We have to steal the Time Monkey."  
  
"The one that was destroyed."  
  
"Yes. And no."  
  
Shego slapped her forehead. "Where's my aspirin?" she asked as she began rummaging through the cabinets in her kitchen.  
  
"In one sense," the Supreme One explained, "the monkey was destroyed. In my world. What happened to my world, however?"  
  
"It, um, ceased to exist," Shego said thoughtfully.  
"Right. And because of that, Monkey Boy and the others never tried to steal the Time Monkey after all. After all, you have no memory of it, right?"  
  
Shego nodded.  
  
"Which means the two halves are still out there. All you and I have to do is track them down, steal them, put them together, and use it in the exact place and time to activate it." The Supreme One smiled nastily. "Kim Possible _thought_ she stopped me, but it wasn't for good. When we get the Monkey back, the path is open to riches, power, and eventually, total control."  
  
"For me, that is," Shego said. She didn't bother to mention that Kim currently didn't even remember stopping the Supreme One. Since she didn't, exactly. Now she was giving herself a headache. She dry-swallowed two aspirin.  
  
"Excuse me?"  
  
"I'm not going to all the trouble so I can make you queen again. This time, it's my turn," Shego told her.  
  
The Supreme One nodded after a moment. "That's fine with me. By the time the plan came to fruition, I'll be an old woman. It'll be up to you to run things after that."  
  
"I get to be in charge," Shego retorted. "You had your chance."  
  
"Whatever. As long as I get to enjoy the fruits of our labors too. We can tell people I'm your mother," the Supreme One snickered.  
  
Shego frowned. "That's not funny," she snapped.  
  
"No," the Supreme One agreed. "You're right. It's not."  
  
Finally, something the two shared besides looks.  
  
"Fine," Shego said. "First thing I'm deciding is, we put off killing Kim Possible for now."  
  
The Supreme One exploded. "Are you fucking KIDDING me??!! That's non-negotiable! Possible dies ASAP!"  
  
"We have both fought Kim Possible and lost way too many times to take this lightly," Shego said. "Hell, you had her beat, and a few minutes later she unmade your whole world. I say we go for the Monkey first, take the element of surprise. Then we use the Monkey to get some real power."  
  
"That makes sense," the Supreme One conceded. "And I say fuck what's sensible," she swiftly continued. "I almost died because of Team Possible! Now it's their turn! If you've gone too soft to help me, I'll do it all myself. And remember, only I know where the two pieces of the Monkey are, so without me, you get nothing except your shitty apartment!"  
  
Shego turned away, feverishly considering her options. For a moment, she thought about giving in. After all, Kim was just a simple affair of the heart. This was world domination she was talking about!  
  
Then she closed her eyes and looked down, heartsick. After everything they'd gone through together . . .  
  
_So you're giving up the opportunity of a lifetime because Kim Possible's an itch that you want scratched? It's official. You haven't just gone soft. You're now dumber than Drakken.  
_  
Shego wished this insulting remark had come from her older self. But the Supreme One didn't know about her and Kim yet, which meant she'd only heard it inside her head. It was the voice of that bitter, angry part of her that had nourished her since she'd been born. The part of her that resented and hated Kim for the effect she'd had on Shego's life. Was it only a couple weeks ago that she'd been all but holding Kim's hand during her tearful confession to her parents?  
  
"Soft" was a word Shego avoided like the plague. It didn't matter how hard her muscles were or how fast she could rappel down a skyscraper. It was when she let herself go all mushy over someone, putting someone else's interests over her own, that she was letting go of what made her who she was . . .  
  
"Evil," Shego said.  
  
"What?" the Supreme One asked.  
  
"I'm evil," Shego repeated. "Just like you. And evil means doing what I want, where I want, without giving a shit what other people say. You say Kim took your life from you, tried to kill you, that you want revenge? Well cry me a river," she sneered. "I - don't - care. I only care about what's mine, and that's power. So if you want to go crap all over Team Possible, be my guest. I'll be getting my Monkey. I'm sure Monkey Fist will tell me what I need to know if I hurt him enough." She didn't know where Monty was, but the Supreme One didn't need to know that.  
  
The Supreme One's eyes burned hotter than her gloves as she clenched her fists and took a step toward Shego. "You - you - aargh!" She snapped her fingers, dousing her gloves. "Now I know how Dr. D felt all those times!"  
  
Shego grinned. "Like you're any different."  
  
"Hell, no. Fine, we get the Monkey first. THEN we kill them. Deal?"  
  
"If you want, after we get the Monkey, we can make them suffer before we kill them."  
  
"The next words out of your mouth had better not be 'let's break her spirit'."  
  
"Oh come on, are you trying to tell me that in all your days as the Supreme One, you didn't try to rub Kimmie's nose in it?"  
  
"She wasn't even there, remember? Following me through time?" The Supreme One chuckled. "Still, I trampled over everything she cared about while she was gone. I drove that stupid taco hut Stoppable ate at into bankruptcy. I turned her high school into a re-education camp. I even built my headquarters in this hick burg and renamed it Shegoton."  
  
"Nice touch," Shego said. "Only this time, she'll be around to see it happen."  
  
"And then I kill her," the Supreme One added.  
  
"Right. But not before you change those clothes."  
  
The Supreme One blinked. "What?"  
  
"Well, I mean, what happened? What's with the horizontal stripes? And that cape? My outfit was perfect. Why did you tamper with it?"  
  
"I made everyone dress like me. Broad, horizontal stripes were easier and cheaper to make in mass quantities," the Supreme One said defensively.  
  
"Uh huh, yeah, well see, here in my world, how I look is more important than how much it cost to make," Shego told her. "I've got a few extras in the bedroom. Don't even think about coming out until you've changed and lost the lame-o cape. Who do you think you are, Batgirl?"  
  
"All right!" the Supreme One snapped. "This is why I never wanted to be cloned," she grumbled as she stormed into the bedroom and slammed the door.  
  
"Me too," Shego murmured as she immediately pulled out her cell phone and hit speed dial as she moved as far from the bedroom door as possible.  
  
Being evil meant having what she wanted, and damn the consequences. So really, what was so great about ruling the world? Rule meant responsibilities, and Shego had always prized freedom. She bet the Supreme One never got to take trips to Aruba after she took over. And what had the world ever given her? The world could go screw itself for all she cared.  
  
What had Kim Possible given her? Other than saving her from the Acceptable Family when she had no incentive to, and freeing her from Drakken's mind control? Allowing her life to be turned publicly upside down? Risking the loss her best friends and her parents? Being the lifelong goal which Shego had always striven to equal and perhaps beat? Wanting Shego back?  
  
She wasn't being soft. It was just that she wanted different things right now. And she was going to take them, even if she had to clobber her future self to do it.  
  
Besides, if she had agreed to spend the next twenty years with the Supreme One, one of them would have ended up killing the other anyway.

* * *

Kim pulled the cell phone from her pocket with such eagerness that it got tangled in the interior fabric, and a second, ferocious pull nearly tore the pocket. "Hello?" she answered, too impatient to check the caller ID.  
  
"It's me."  
  
The whispered reply wasn't quiet enough for Kim to recognize who it was. "Shego," she breathed. "Are you all right?"  
  
"Yeah. Look, you've got to get to Club Banana right away. I think - "  
  
"Monique's fine, Shego," Kim interrupted. "She survived the fire."  
  
" . . . How did you know?"  
  
"Well, you did mention her name before you ran out tonight," Kim reminded her. "I thought I should check up on her. Wait, how did YOU know about the fire?"  
  
"Because I've got the person who SET the fire in my apartment, and you need to get over here _right now_ before the crazy bitch decides she wants to kill someone else."  
  
Kim looked over at Ron and Monique with determined eyes. "Ron and I will be right there."  
  
Ron raised an eyebrow as Kim waited for Shego's standard objection to his presence. "Fine," Shego instead replied. "Although seeing the both of you isn't exactly going to lower her blood pressure."  
  
"Whose blood pressure? Shego, what's going on?"  
  
There was a pause. "Igottago," Shego said hurriedly before disconnecting.  
  
Kim stared at her phone. "I want to say this is no big, but I have a bad feeling about this," she said.  
  
"Where is she?" Ron asked.  
  
"Her apartment," Kim said. "And apparently the clone is there too. We've got to get over there. Monique, will you be all right?"  
  
"I'd be more all right if I could go with you," Monique said crossly. "I've got scores to settle."  
  
"Don't worry," Kim assured her. "After we beat her, I'll bring her back here tied up in ribbon, and you can act out your feelings."  
  
"I'll bring the baseball bat," Ron said.  
  
"Bring a six-pack too and we'll have ourselves a party," Monique added. She smiled. "Go on, girl. Shego needs you more than I do."  
  
Kim nodded as she rose. "Let's go," she said to Ron. "We can get what we need from Sadie."  
  
"Except our Kimmunicators," Ron groused.  
  
"You're right," she realized. Their absence had created a lot of problems. She dialed a new number on the cell phone as they left. "Wade."  
  
"Kim? Aren't you on a date?"  
  
"How are those Kimmunicators looking?" "  
  
"I should have them finished in a few hours. Why?"  
  
"I'm going to be at Shego's place in five minutes. I expect to have a Kimmunicator in my hand when I get there, or I'm going to be a little put out."  
  
"Oh-kaaay. It won't have all the new - "  
  
"Just do it, Wade." She hung up.  
  
"Whoa," Ron said as they entered the elevator. He rubbed his pants pocket and Rufus poked a sleepy head out. "Not even so much as a 'what's the sitch' there."  
  
"Monique was hurt tonight. Shego could be next. This woman's going down," Kim said icily.  
  
Ron shivered. Kim was getting into Shego mode. All villains, please make sure your health insurance is paid up.  
  
To be continued . . .


	4. Chapter Four

Author's Note #1 - I've made an executive decision regarding third season episodes. I will evaluate on an episode-by-episode basis whether it fits into my series or not. So, for example, there will be no future references to "Emotion Sickness". Considering all the chipping going on in "Green, Black, and Blue", you would have thought either Kim or Shego would have brought up the events in that episode. Therefore I'm ignoring that episode. However, other third season episodes might be referred to at some point. 

Author's Note #2 - To any of my fans who haven't discovered it yet, a great new website called KP Slash Haven has been set up. Despite the name, it does make room for discussion of het pairings such as K/R and D/S, as well as fan fiction and fanart. But the emphasis is on all m/m and f/f pairings inspired by the show, especially Kim/Shego. The . . . oh, how could I forget, links don't seem to be allowed any more.  Well, you can find a link in my author bio, I believe.

* * *

Title: But For the Grace of Ron (4/??)   
Author: Allaine 

Rating: PG-13

Spoilers: Takes place after "No Living in the Past". Knowledge of the events in "A Sitch in Time" would be helpful.   
Feedback: Some of you have been extremely helpful, and I hope you'll continue to do so. New reader opinions are encouraged too!   
Disclaimers: Kim Possible, Ron Stoppable, Shego, Wade, and all other characters from the Kim Possible television series belong to Disney, its television production arm, and the creators and producers of the animated series. All original characters are my invention. I seek no profit from writing this, and expect none.   
Summary: Exiled from her time and trapped in a past she doesn't recognize, the Supreme One from "Sitch in Time" wants to resurrect her future and destroy Team Possible. But what if stopping her means Kim and Shego - never met?

* * *

Chapter 4 

Before Kim had taken three steps away from Sadie, a small whirring noise alerted her to an airborne presence as a Kimmunicator dropped neatly into her palm. "What's the sitch, Wade?" she asked as she turned it on.

"It's up-to-date," he said. "The others aren't ready yet."

"Good. Listen, I want you to hack into the hospital's security systems and monitor Monique's room. We left her there alone and I don't want to chance her attacker coming back for her if we don't end this now."

"Wait, wait, _hospital room_?!"

Kim paused. In all the excitement of Monique's injuries and Shego's mysterious absence, no one had thought to tell Wade what happened. As in Wade, who had dated her recently. "Wade, I'm sorry," she sighed. "Someone should have told you. Monique was in a fire at Club Banana. If we hadn't found her there, she might have died. And a few minutes ago, Shego called to say that the woman who set the fire is in her apartment."

Wade got up from his chair. "I can be there in five minutes."

"Whoa, whoa, Wade. Are you serious?"

"What, just because I usually don't leave my room, I can't visit her?" he asked belligerently.

"No, it's just - how can you protect her better? At your computer, or in her room with your bare hands?"

Wade glowered at her. "Here, I guess."

"Don't worry, when we get her, you can spend all day there if you want," Kim assured him.

"Damn straight."

"Uh, KP?" Ron asked. "If Monique says this woman looks like Shego, how do we tell them apart?"

"Not another clone," Wade groaned.

"It's not confirmed, Wade. I'll try to make sure we get some DNA samples if she gets away," Kim told him. "And Monique said she had white streaks in her hair. Let's focus on that. Besides, I'm thinking the one we want is the one who fights _with_ us, as opposed to _against_ us."

"Good point," Ron said.

"What shall I do, Kim?" Sadie asked.

"You still got that disintegrator ray in your trunk?"

"Charged and ready to fire in two seconds," the car informed her.

"Keep it that way," Kim told her. If it was the only way to protect Monique - she'd killed once. What was a second time?

* * *

"What about transportation?" Shego asked. "I'm not exactly flush with cash right now, and we don't have an airship at our disposal like I did when I worked for Drakken." 

"Maybe we could swipe one from him," the Supreme One replied diffidently.

"That could be difficult," Shego chuckled.

"Why?"

"Because he's being held indefinitely for questioning by Global Justice. Terrorism charges."

The Supreme One raised her eyebrows. "So, GJ finally got some balls, huh?"

"How'd you stop them in the future, anyway?"

"Lawyers," the Supreme One said.

"_Lawyers?"_

"Need I remind you? I was the wealthiest woman in the world. When GJ first got wind of my behind-the-scenes activities, I sued them for harassment. I actually had a temporary restraining order for three years where no GJ agent could come within a thousand yards of me." She chuckled. "Eventually I used my special collars to 'convince' Congress to halt GJ's funding. Their head bitch Director was one of the first resistance leaders, but . . ." The Supreme One shrugged.

"But what?" Shego asked.

"But when I was through with her, she was missing a lot more than an eye," the Supreme One said evilly.

Shego stiffened. The Acceptables had removed one of Dr. Director's ears when she wouldn't give them what they wanted. She didn't like hearing her future self admit to doing things the likes of John Acceptable did. Things that Kim, for all her angst over causing Mrs. Acceptable's death, could never accept.

It made Shego wonder - if Kim saw the kind of person Shego might become, would she want her any more?

She shook her head angrily. When had she been this pathetically needy? When had she put others' interests ahead of her own? Since she'd started dating Kim, that's when. Maybe she needed to rethink betraying the Supreme One . . .

"You leave anyone behind?" Shego asked quietly.

"What?"

"You know - husband, boyfriend, lover, someone?"

The Supreme One shrugged and studied her nails. "I had a series of lovers. I tended to have their minds wiped when it was over. They knew too much. But no one that mattered, no."

Shego repressed a shudder. Even turning soft was better than turning into the older woman sitting across the table from her.

So where the hell was Kim then?

It was at that moment that someone rang the doorbell.

"Finally," Shego thought.

"Is this why you were asking if I left someone behind? Were we expecting male company?" the Supreme One asked, smirking.

"A man? Hardly," Shego said as she went to the door. For all her snide humor, the Supreme One followed closely behind, constantly on the alert for anything that smelled funny.

Shego leaned forward and looked through the peephole. Kim was standing there, looking ready to beat someone down and coldly enjoy every second of it.

She smiled. That was why she stayed with Kim. It wasn't that Shego was less like the Supreme One than she led the time traveler to think. It was that Kim was more like Shego, and consequently was closer to her heart, than even her alternate self. "I thought we would both appreciate one of these, so I called delivery."

"A pizza?" the Supreme One asked, looking doubtful.

Shego opened the door and stood behind it, so that she was out of the way. "An evening with Kim Possible."

Kim instantly spotted the white lines in the Supreme One's hair, as the startled former dictator stood there, a couple feet inside the front door. The Supreme One recognized her almost as quickly, but the key word was "almost". Kim saved the banter for later and kicked her foot out, striking the Supreme One in the mouth.

"Glad you could make it," Shego said dryly.

"Wouldn't miss this for the world," Kim replied.

"Hey, I really AM giving up the world for this, so try not to remind me of it, okay?"

Kim looked blankly at her before the Supreme One leapt to her feet. "Kim Possible!" she shrieked. "Soon you'll be dead like your friend!"

She almost retorted that Monique had survived, but Kim held her tongue. Better to allow this woman to think Monique was dead. She took a moment to get a better look at her opponent, and even though Monique had said she might be a clone, Kim was still amazed at how alike the two women looked. "You're not hurting anybody else tonight, whatever you are."

"It's complicated. I'd explain, but you might need some aspirin," Shego said as she darted into the bedroom.

"When I'm through with you, you'll need a lot more than aspirin," the Supreme One growled as she snapped her fingers, energizing her gloves.

"Well, isn't that just peachy," Kim said, sighing.

"Did we win yet?" Ron asked, leaning his head in from the outside corridor. "Or are we still bantering with the clone?"

The Supreme One glared at Ron with murder in her eyes, and for once, it wasn't because of a clone remark. "You," she snarled, raising both hands above her head.

"Uh-oh," Ron said, recognizing what was coming next. He dove into the apartment and out of the way as the Supreme One unleashed a double plasma blast and gouged a large hole in the wall by Shego's front door.

"You can't escape me forever, Stoppable!" the Supreme One screamed as she completely ignored Kim and dove after Ron.

Kim was left flat-footed for a moment as she watched. Ron was usually the diversion, not the primary target. "Cellular degradation affecting the clone's brain already," she muttered as she ran after the Supreme One.

Shego burst out of the bedroom a second later in her jumpsuit and new gloves. "All right, let's kick . . . hey, get out of my kitchen!"

"No problem!" Ron yelled as he dove over her counter, narrowly avoiding a swipe of green fire.

The Supreme One was about to follow when she felt a finger on her shoulder. "What?!"

Then she screeched as she got a blast of liquid in her face.

"Look," she growled as she stumbled backwards, "for the last _fucking_ time, I AM NOT A CLONE!!!"

"Actually, that was beer, not soda," Kim said. "And I wasn't trying to make you melt."

She swung the glass bottle through the hair and shattered it on the Supreme One's head, inflicting a bloody scalp wound and lacerations on her forehead that made her opponent reel.

"I was just emptying the bottle," she added.

"A little help here, Shego?!" the Supreme One called out as she doused her flames and tried to rub blood and beer out of her eyes.

"Help getting your ass beat?" Shego asked. "Not a . . . problem?"

All three watched, transfixed, as the ugly cuts on the Supreme One's forehead slowly healed and vanished, without even a scar.

"Uh-oh," Ron said.

"You could have told me she did that!" Kim hissed.

"I didn't know!" Shego shot back.

The Supreme One looked back at them, confused, and Kim realized that not even she knew of her healing ability. It wasn't much of an advantage, and she'd probably figure it out sooner or later, but at least for now it was . . .

"Dude, those cuts on her forehead just closed right up!" Ron yelped.

Kim slapped her hand over her face.

Perplexed, the Supreme One touched her forehead gingerly. A smile slowly spread across her face. Lowering her hand, she used her claws to slash three lines across her own forearm.

"Hey, those are MY clothes you're tearing!" Shego growled.

The Supreme One ignored her as the cuts quickly disappeared. "Coooool," she said.

"Is there anything else I should know about her?" Kim asked Shego.

"Where to begin? Oh, she's homicidally insane, and she'd be from the future if it still existed."

"Huh?"

"Basically what I said," Shego added dryly.

The Supreme One's glee was replaced with rage. "Why are you telling her EVERYTHING?" she demanded.

"Hello? Haven't you figured it out yet? Who do you think told her you were here?" Shego asked. "I swear, you'd think they'd have better senility medication in the future."

Shego barely dodged the plasma burst that soared over her head.

The Supreme One blew on one finger, her gloves having been re-energized. "Heh," she said, smiling coldly. "Now I wonder if some guiding hand sent me here. Maybe I'm supposed to stop myself from making the biggest mistake of my life - turning into Ron Stoppable."

"That kinda sounded like an insult," Ron said.

"I'm pretty sure it was," Shego told him, seething.

He folded his arms. "Well, now _I'm_ insulted."

Shego snarled and leapt forward, slashing her claws through the air. The Supreme One didn't even try to defend herself, and Shego's gloves ripped unimpeded across her torso, leaving tears in the fabric and several bloody slashes. She cried out and took two steps back, allowing a maddened Shego to continue her assault.

"Shego, hold it!" Kim shouted, trying to calm Shego down. "It's not doing any good!"

Kim was right. The Supreme One's cuts and bruises continued to vanish mere seconds after being inflicted, and the increasingly damaged suit was the only sign she'd been injured to begin with. But Shego seemed like a woman possessed, and the pain she was dishing out was at least lasting enough that the Supreme One wasn't able to mount much of a counter-offensive.

Eventually, however, Shego pulled back, panting heavily from the exertion. The Supreme One needed only an instant to summon and fire a concentrated blast of green fire at the vulnerable Shego. The only reason it didn't tear her in two was because of Kim, who had been unable to help Shego in the confined quarters and who had expected the Supreme One to take advantage of Shego like this, tackling Shego out of the way.

As Kim rolled out of the way, she drew her grappling hook and fired it. The cable wound around the Supreme One's legs, dropping her to the floor. "While she's occupied, I vote retreat," Kim said.

"Seconded!" Ron added.

Shego's lips were pulled back in a grimace. "I'm sick and tired of renting apartments just so I can be driven out of them by people trying to kill me!" she said stubbornly.

"Emphasis on the trying to kill you part," Kim reminded her. "We need to fall back! We can't win when she's healing her injuries faster than you can cause them!"

The Supreme One was tearing away at the cable around her legs. She was burning her own legs with her green flames, but obviously she'd concluded she could live with it.

The sight of her opponent ignoring the pain like this finally convinced Shego. "Damn it," Shego grunted, stumbling to her feet. "All right, let's go."

"You won't get away from me," the Supreme One sneered. Her leg burns were severe enough that she couldn't regain her feet yet, but she could still raise her hands above her head. They glowed more brightly every second.

"Okay, let's go quickly," Shego amended as she grabbed Kim by the wrist. She didn't even consider trying for the front door, pulling Kim toward the glass door that led to her tiny balcony.

Rufus looked out of Ron's pocket and saw the green fire that was sure to come their way any second now. "Eep!" he said, burrowing back into the pants pocket.

"Uh, yeah, I second that too," Ron muttered as he hurried after Kim and Shego.

The Supreme One didn't even consider the possibility that by destroying her younger self, she might be killing herself as well, along with creating a major paradox.

Of course, her very continued existence was a paradox in its own right, so perhaps considering the possibility wouldn't have made a difference.

"You like pushing people out of windows, Kimmie?!" she screamed. "See how YOU like it!"

Kim, Shego, and Ron all dove for the back door. Shego had the presence of mind to let go of Kim's wrist as she re-activated her gloves and pressed them against the glass. That instant's touch froze the glass enough that they didn't do any major damage to their own bodies when they leapt through the glass. Shego was still first as she tumbled across the balcony and kicked the wooden railing, splintering it before the trio smashed it completely and sailed out into space.

The Supreme One flung her hands forward, and a green wave of fire, easily three feet wide, blasted through Shego's living room and into the sky. It narrowly singed one of Ron's sneakers, the only other harm it caused.

Shego landed easily, but she grunted as Ron struck her with his knee on the way down, falling to one knee. "Stoppable," she growled, clenching her fist.

"Sorry," Ron said.

"STOPPABLE!!!"

"I think she likes you, Ron," Kim said dryly as the Supreme One's cry echoed overhead.

"I hope violence and mayhem isn't how Shego shows she likes YOU," Ron retorted.

"What did you think I was doing all those years?" Shego asked wickedly.

"Come on, move it!" Kim shouted as she grabbed Ron by the shoulder and pushed him forward. "She'll be on us any second! She doesn't strike me as someone who's gonna wait for the elevator."

"A second's all I need," Shego said as she followed Kim and Ron off the sidewalk that circled her apartment building. She turned and pressed her palms against the concrete. It was swiftly covered in a sheen of ice that was barely visible in the moonlight, and then only if you were looking for it.

The Supreme One was not looking for it. She wasn't even fully aware of Shego's new ability. Her legs were completely healed, although bare below the knees thanks to the green-and-black suit having been burned off, when she vaulted off Shego's balcony.

They were no longer completely healed when she landed, slipped on the ice, and sprained her ankle.

She choked back a cry of pain as she dragged herself across the ice and onto the grass. Pulling herself onto her feet, she took limping steps forward, trusting she'd be running at full speed in a moment.

"Guys, she's still coming," Ron said as he looked over his shoulder. "Or walking, anyway."

"Not for long, I'm guessing," Shego said as they arrived at the parking lot.

"Sadie!" Kim called out.

"Yes, Kim!"

"Prepare to fire at the woman following us!"

"Great," Shego grumbled. "Another visit by KITT . . . wait, did you say fire?"

"I see you, Stoppable!" the Supreme One called tauntingly as she approached with increasing speed.

"Hello! What the hell is it with you?!" Ron shouted back, annoyed. "I'm just the sidekick! You know, like you!"

"You're not helping, Ron," Shego growled.

"Sadie, now!" Kim said urgently.

A futuristic cannon emerged from Sadie's rear and pointed in the Supreme One's direction. The barrel glowed with a white light that hurt the eyes.

The Supreme One skidded to a halt. "Uh-oh," she said.

The disintegrator ray fired. A powerful beam lanced out into the night. Turning, the Supreme One tried to flee, and that was what saved her from a fate even her new healing ability might not be able to mend. The blast struck the ground where she stood, blowing a huge hole in the earth. The percussive effect of the blast, however, blew out the Supreme One's eardrums as it hurled her fifty feet in the other direction. She landed in a boneless heap and groaned as she rolled over onto her back.

"She's no longer in range, Kim," Sadie informed them. "Should I approach and fire again?"

"No," Kim told her, furrowing her brow. "We're not even sure if your ray can stop her for good. Or if you can land a second hit."

"You're not sure if it can _stop_ her?" Sadie asked, offended.

"Sorry, Sadie, but you don't have all the information, and frankly neither do I," Kim said, casting a glance at Shego as she pulled the passenger door open. "For now, we're falling back until we figure out what to do next."

Shego gritted her teeth as she struggled into the car. "More running, what fun," she said.

"Hey, if I want at least five minutes where you tell me who the HELL that was," Kim shot back, "then we take five minutes. Agreed?"

Shego nodded reluctantly.

"How about she starts with why she kept shouting my name?" Ron suggested as Sadie's tires screeched. The car sped away from the apartment building.

"Guess that doesn't happen too often," Shego joked snidely.

"Shego," Kim sighed. "Could you quit it, and give me an idea of what we're up against? If she's not a clone, what is she?"

Shego grunted. "An idea, sure. But it'll take more than five minutes."

"What about the short, short version?"

" . . . How about she's a time traveler from a future that doesn't even exist any more, and she mainly blames Stoppable for it," Shego finally said.

Kim and Ron looked at each other. "Boo-yah!" Ron suddenly cried out. "I don't understand a word she said, but I know it's all about me this time!"

Kim sighed, but she partially agreed with him. She didn't get it either. "Okay, the longer-than-five-minutes version, please," she said helplessly.

* * *

"I still don't get it," Ron said ten minutes later. 

Kim rubbed her eyes and took out her Kimmunicator. "Wade," she said, "please tell me you understand temporal mechanics better than I do."

"Don't worry, Monique's doing fine," he answered with a touch of sarcasm.

Kim was about to apologize when Shego grabbed the device from her hand. "Look, dweeb, you're the only one here who didn't almost get killed tonight, so how about cutting her a little slack?" she snarled, jabbing a finger at the view screen.

"Shego!" Kim hissed, grabbing it back. "Wade, I'm so - "

"No, no, it's all right," Wade interrupted, sighing. "You don't look so good either. I guess the capturing didn't go too well?"

"No, it didn't," Kim confirmed. "Which is why you guarding Monique is more important than ever. You said she's okay."

"Yeah, she's fine," Wade said. "Now what was this about temporal mechanics?"

"According to Shego, we're dealing with an evil, older version of herself from a future that Ron and I stopped from happening. Only somehow she got sent back to our time, even though she's not supposed to exist any more."

"Huh," Wade said, rubbing his chin. "That does sound paradoxical. Well, I could try to help, but you might want to consult an expert. We've got one right here in Middleton, you know."

"We do?" Kim asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Sure. Betty Director wrote her thesis on temporal mechanics. Apparently she's traveled through time once or twice herself."

"Doctor Director?"

"Betty?" Shego asked.

"Could you contact her, Wade, and see if she's willing to help us with an emergency?"

"Her name is Betty?"

"Cool it, Shego."

"I'll get right on it," Wade told them. "You know where she lives, right?"

Kim nodded. "Sadie, I've got a new address for you. And Wade - if you can beef up Monique's security in any way, do it. This new Shego has her old powers."

"I'll see if I can tweak anything," Wade said. "You guys head for Dr. Director's house. If she's not available, I'll let you know before you get there."

"Thanks, Wade," Kim replied, deactivating the communicator.

There was a moment of silence. "So, Scandinavia, huh?" Ron eventually asked.

"It's what she said," Shego said.

"I hope she at least sent me to Iceland," Ron said. "Anywhere but Norway. I _hate_ Norwegian food - although I'm not entirely sure why."

Kim didn't bother to inform Ron that Iceland wasn't anywhere near Scandinavia. "Are you all right?" Kim asked Shego quietly.

Shego looked down. "Physically, yeah. Emotionally - not really."

Kim reached over and took Shego's hand, squeezing it.

Shego hesitated for a moment before squeezing back.

To be continued . . .


	5. Chapter Five

Title: But For the Grace of Ron (5/??)  
Author: Allaine

Rating: PG-13

Spoilers: Takes place after "No Living in the Past". Knowledge of the events in "A Sitch in Time" would be helpful.  
Feedback: Some of you have been extremely helpful, and I hope you'll continue to do so. New reader opinions are encouraged too!  
Disclaimers: Kim Possible, Ron Stoppable, Shego, Wade, and all other characters from the Kim Possible television series belong to Disney, its television production arm, and the creators and producers of the animated series. All original characters are my invention. I seek no profit from writing this, and expect none.  
Summary: Exiled from her time and trapped in a past she doesn't recognize, the Supreme One from "Sitch in Time" wants to resurrect her future and destroy Team Possible. But what if stopping her means Kim and Shego - never met?

* * *

Chapter 5

"Did we wake you?" Kim asked as Dr. Director opened the door.

"No, no, I've developed unusual sleep rhythms since I adopted Thomas," Director replied, yawning. "I was already up. Wade said you had a problem?"

"He says you're the go-to girl for temporal mechanics," Kim said.

"Ah," the doctor said, opening the door wider. "Why don't you and the others come in?"

"How is Thomas, anyway?" Kim asked as she crossed the threshold.

Dr. Director chuckled. "Hard at work. Or play. It could be interpreted as either."

Kim raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"

Shego followed close behind. "She'd better be an expert at this," she muttered. "I'd like at least one of us to know what I'm talking about."

"Hey, I never saw 'temporal mechanics' in the list of vocational classes offered in high school," Ron shot back. He stopped. "Uh, why's the baby in the microwave?"

The three of them looked at the living room. There was a microwave on the floor. The back had been removed and there were small metal parts everywhere. A little pair of legs was sticking out of it.

"That's just Thomas," Dr. Director said, seeming completely unconcerned.

"I hope you don't let the social worker see that," Kim said.

"Please, sometimes it's the only way to quiet him."

"What?"

"Well, as you might remember, Dr. Acceptable gave her son cybernetic implants when he was still a baby," Dr. Director said, frowning. "Part of her plan to use him as the living brain of her giant robot."

Kim remembered, of course. She'd seen it for herself, seen the little boy in the spherical head of the giant machine like some tiny pianist at the keyboard. Monique had pulled him to safety before the robot plunged to the bottom of the caverns below the Acceptables' lair.

Just like Kim had plunged, before Shego saved her. And Dr. Acceptable. No one saved her. Kim had killed -

Kim closed her eyes. "Yes, I remember," she murmured.

Dr. Director nodded. "Well, we can't remove the implants. Too dangerous, according to the doctors, including your mother. Since they haven't harmed him yet, we're adopting a wait-and-see policy. Until then, Thomas displays a remarkable aptitude for computers and other machines. Over a three-day period he built a computer better than the ones I used at Global Justice," she said. "Using my old computer, the television set, and a toaster."

"Maybe you should get him a few Erector sets," Kim observed.

"Probably," she agreed dryly.

"Dude, he dismantled the TV? What was he thinking?" Ron gasped.

"Don't worry, Ronald," Dr. Director said. "I think he's building a new one, now that he's realized his last invention meant no more Teletubbies. Of course, now we'll need a new microwave. And a hair dryer."

"This is all fascinating, Dr. Director," Kim said, and there was in fact something compelling about a toddler building a television set from spare parts. "But we've got a big problem on our hands, and Shego saysit's from a future that doesn't exist."

"Really?" Dr. Director asked. "What is it?"

"Me," Shego mumbled.

"Hmm," the doctor said. "Interesting. You know, I didn't intend to get involved in temporal mechanics. Not until I found myself traveling through time during a mission when I was a rookie GJ agent."

"How did that happen?" Kim asked.

"My brother," Dr. Director said.

"Figures."

"Anyway, I ended up saving Queen Elizabeth."

"The Second?"

"The First, actually. Spanish agents. Very dangerous. That's how I lost my eye. The medical facilities of the time weren't exactly up to the challenge of repairing the damage. When I eventually returned, however, I was the only GJ agent with a confirmed trip into the past, so my superiors strongly hinted I become their resident expert on the subject. So you've been visited by your future self, Shego?"

"Sort of," Shego muttered.

"Did she mention how she managed to travel into the past?"

"Had something to do with a Time Monkey."

Ron shuddered.

"The Tempus Simia?" Dr. Director asked, her eye narrowing instantly.

Shego looked at her. "Yeah, I think she called it that."

"_Very_ interesting. I found references to such an artifact in my studies. Allegedly the Tempus Simia was broken into two halves that could only be reactivated when brought to a specific location at a specific time. If she has the Tempus Simia - and I assume she's an enemy?"

"Definitely," Shego said. "But she doesn't have it. According to her it was destroyed in the future."

"Maybe you should give me a synopsis of what this future-Shego told you."

Shego sighed.

* * *

"I still don't get it," Ron said fifteen minutes later. "Except for the Norway part. Only a very evil person would send me to Norway."

"What IS it with you and Norway?" Kim asked him. "We've never even BEEN there!"

"Echoes," Dr. Director said quietly.

"What?"

"There are documented cases where the present was altered, then restored, through the use of time travel," Dr. Director explained. "People whose lives were affected reported having strong feelings on certain subjects without knowing why. Ron, even though the world Shego described was unmade, a part of your subconscious remembers moving to Norway. Obviously you didn't like it very much, which is why you have this dislike for all things Norweigan."

"Oh. Huh?"

"It's not important," Kim said wryly. "Dr. Director, what do you think happened?"

She looked at Kim. "I'm not sure. When the Tempus Simia was destroyed in the future, all the lives it touched should have been returned to the way they were before it was used. There should NOT be this second Shego running loose. Technically she no longer exists. I'm more concerned with what Shego has told me about her gloves, though."

"My gloves?" Shego asked, mystified, as she looked at her hands.

"Not those, your old ones. You said your future claimed to have given them to you in the past?"

Shego nodded.

"Then how come that hasn't changed like everything else?" Dr. Director said. "How come you still got those gloves when you were younger?"

"I - don't know."

"Well, there are two possibilities. One is that she lied," Dr. Director told them. "Which is certainly plausible. She needed you to trust her, Shego. What better way than to claim she's responsible for the very things that helped make you the woman you are today?"

Shego and Kim looked at each other. "She didn't seem to be lying," Shego said. "But she was a homicidal bitch. She'd do anything to get what she wanted."

"I hope she was," Dr. Director said.

"Why?"

"Look, her continued presence in our time is a very big problem," Dr. Director said.

"Ya think?" Shego asked.

"This isn't about one woman trying to kill you and regain her former glory, Shego," Dr. Director explained. "Although that is the immediate concern, yes. But her very existence creates a major paradox. How can she be here, if the events that made her the person she is never happened? The longer she remains here, the more likely it is that her presence will have a growing distortive effect on the space-time continuum."

"A what?" Ron asked.

"She could unravel time as we know it."

"Great," Kim sighed.

"All right, so that's bad," Ron said. "But we're going to stop her anyway, right? So what's so bad about one more reason?"

"What's bad is that you can't just throw her in jail or something," Dr. Director said. "She cannot be allowed to remain in our time."

Kim swallowed. "You mean we have to kill her?"

"I'm not sure you can," Dr. Director told Kim. "From what you've said about Shego's new ability to heal her wounds, it sounds like she's unwittingly draining energy from the space-time fabric itself. She's like a virus, and she must be _removed_ from our world entirely. The problem with that is I don't know how."

"What if we sent her somewhere else?" Kim asked.

"How?"

"With a space-time continuum disruptor?"

Dr. Director slowly nodded. "That could work. By casting her through a portal created by the disruptor, the energies in the portal could counteract the ripple effect caused by the destruction of the Tempus Simia, which evidently caused this mess in the first place. Do you know where we can find one?"

"Oh, I know someone who owes me a favor or two," Kim said.

"Good. I'd suggest getting it as soon as possible." She paused. "There is one other problem, however."

"Of course," Kim muttered. "What?"

"Well . . . if the plan succeeds and future-Shego ceases to exist like the rest of her world, then it should also undo any lingering effects of the Tempus Simia."

"So?"

"So what if she wasn't lying about the gloves?" Dr. Director asked softly.

Kim looked confused. "I don't get it, what?"

"Shego," Dr. Director said, leaning toward her, "if this woman created your gloves and gave them to you, then what do you think will happen when she's finally gone?"

Shego stared at her. "You're saying my past is going to change."

"Essentially, yes."

"I'll never get the gloves. I won't get my first big job as an evil sidekick. I'll never work for Drakken . . . I'll never meet Kim."

Kim's mouth fell open. "What?"

Shego turned to look at Kim. "I couldn't find work as a henchman until I got the gloves, Kim. I was just some girl with a few moves. The gloves made me dangerous. They helped make my reputation. Without them - our paths will never cross. You won't just lose me. You'll never even know me."

Then she got up and stormed out the front door.

Kim couldn't believe it. "That's not what you meant. Right?"

Dr. Director shook her head. "I'm sorry, Kim. But unless this woman was lying about giving Shego her gloves, the only way to save the universe could make Shego just another figment of your subconscious."

Kim sat there for a moment. Then she ran after Shego.

Ron just looked at Dr. Director. "So, this thing I have with meatcakes?"

"You've probably never even eaten one."

"Freaky."

* * *

"Sappho," Shego said as Kim came onto the front porch of Dr. Director's home.

"What?"

"You've got to take Sappho and get that disruptor thingy ASAP. You know where to get one?"

Kim rubbed the back of her head. "Remember Justine?"

"The girl in Boston?"

"She built one for a high-school project. And it worked, too. She sent a prehistoric dinosaur into another world."

Shego chuckled. "Gee. I'd hate to be living there." Then she looked away. "She called me with Monique's phone earlier tonight. All we need to do is call her back, lure her into a meeting, and zap her with this disruptor."

"And you're not bothered by what might happen?" Kim asked.

"We're just dating," Shego said. "It's not like either of us are losing the loves of our life. And I was going to make it big whether I got the gloves or not. It'll just take me a few years - "

Kim put her hand on Shego's arm, and the other woman started. "Shego, I don't know which is worse - the fact that I might stop knowing you, or the fact that if I do, I won't even remember losing you."

"What's wrong with that?" Shego asked. "We don't even have to feel sad. Not that I'd be sad, of course."

Kim pulled back. "That remark would really hurt if I didn't know you were lying through your teeth."

Shego actually flinched. She turned away angrily. "I'm even more sick and tired of life getting in our way than I am of being chased from my apartment."

"You think I enjoy this? So why do you always take it out on me?"

"Excuse me? _You_ pushed me away on Senior's island. _You_ rejected me at the football field. _You_ were the one hanging out with Mankey. I had a good fucking reason to be mad at you."

"You're right, I did. So who's pushing who away this time, Shego?" Kim asked.

Shego stopped, her mouth open. She grumbled something as she looked down.

"What?"

"Echoes," she mumbled.

"I can't hear what you're - "

"Echoes! She said we'll feel echoes of this life. Do you think it'll be really bad - feeling like there's something missing, and never knowing what it is?" Shego asked.

Kim drew near and slipped her arms around Shego's waist. "You always meant excitement to me."

"And I could always count on you - to be a pain in my ass, but still," Shego said.

Kim chuckled weakly. "So what does that make you, my darker half?"

"I guess so. I'm just so much badness that your body couldn't hold it all." Shego leaned back into Kim.

"I don't know about that," Kim murmured.

"Oh?"

"According to this woman, I killed her. Threw her out a window at the top of the tallest tower. And I was only sixteen. I guess Dr. Acceptable wasn't a fluke," Kim said softly.

"Kim, that world was never supposed to exist," Shego told her. "I think everyone did things they would normally never do. Like . . ." She growled. "Damn it."

"What?"

"If we manage to make it through this, I'm going to have to be nicer to Stoppable," Shego groaned.

Kim laughed. "Oh, really? Why is that? You know, if you're nicer to him, you might make his head explode."

"That would be something at least," Shego agreed. "See, according to my evil twin, Ron is the reason she was defeated in the future. If it hadn't been for him, it would be THIS world that never existed, not hers."

"That's true," Kim realized.

"Not only that, but the only reason they even managed to work the Time Monkey in the first place was because you and Ron were split up. Even my double realized what a team you made. She sent Ron off to Europe, and suddenly you couldn't win. I've always said that you didn't need him. I thought he was just - "

"Buffoon?"

"Buffoon," Shego agreed. "And now I find out that, but for the grace of Ron Stoppable, you and I never would have happened." She closed her eyes. "I might even have to thank him later."

"You might have your chance sooner than you think."

Kim and Shego jumped. "Dr. Director!" Kim gasped as she separated from Shego.

"Ron got a phone call," Dr. Director said. "You'd better get in here."

"Ron?" Kim asked as they re-entered the house.

Ron was sitting mutely on the couch. Rufus was clutching his waist. He looked up at Kim, his cell phone hanging limply from one hand. "That was her," he said. "She has my parents."

"What?!" Kim and Shego both shouted.

"She kidnapped them. If we don't meet her at the re-education center in one hour, she's killing them both." Ron looked at them. "What the hell is a re-education center, anyway?"

"Give me that," Shego snapped, grabbing the phone. She hit the redial and held the phone to her ear.

"I said one hour, and that's - "

"Forget what year this is?" Shego asked, sneering at her own voice ringing in her ear. "There IS no re-education center in Middleton."

" . . . it used to be the high school, I think."

"Fine. You die in an hour, bitch." Shego hung up. "High school."

"Figures," Ron said. "It always goes back to high school."

Kim looked equally angry. "Sadie will take me to Sappho. I'll go to Boston as soon as possible."

"Why you?" Shego asked. "Sappho likes me more."

"Justine is more likely to let me borrow the disruptor at this hour," Kim said. "You and Ron have to get to the high school, save his parents, and stall the Supreme One until I can return. Maybe, with Sappho's supercharged engines built for space travel, I can be gone and back in an hour."

"Guess we don't have much time left together, huh?" Shego said.

Kim smiled sadly. "Nowhere near enough. Ron, trust Shego. It'll be all right."

Ron nodded. "Right. KP - I can't lose my folks."

"Calm down, Stoppable," Shego said. "We'll save them, and then we'll kick her ass for laying her hands on them."

"Yeah," Ron said. His eyes burned. "Yeah."

To be continued . . .


	6. Chapter Six

Title: But For the Grace of Ron (6/7)  
Author: Allaine

Rating: PG-13

Spoilers: Takes place after "No Living in the Past". Knowledge of the events in "A Sitch in Time" would be helpful.  
Feedback: Some of you have been extremely helpful, and I hope you'll continue to do so. New reader opinions are encouraged too!  
Disclaimers: Kim Possible, Ron Stoppable, Shego, Wade, and all other characters from the Kim Possible television series belong to Disney, its television production arm, and the creators and producers of the animated series. All original characters are my invention. I seek no profit from writing this, and expect none.  
Summary: Exiled from her time and trapped in a past she doesn't recognize, the Supreme One from "Sitch in Time" wants to resurrect her future and destroy Team Possible. But what if stopping her means Kim and Shego - never met?

* * *

Chapter 6

"Who's there?" Sappho extended her "eye" and flashed the light about the hangar. Something different caught her eye and she focused on something directly in front of her.

"It's just me, Sappho," Kim said.

"Oh. Hello, Kim. What are you doing here at this hour?"

"Well, for starters, waking you up. Sadie was trying to signal you from outside, but she says you always were hard to 'boot up'," Kim replied.

"My cousin is so amusing," Sappho muttered. "Invite her in so I can boot HER up. If I had a foot, that is."

Kim frowned. "I sent her back. Ron and Shego could use the backup."

"Wait, backup? Shego? Kim, what is the matter?"

"Remember our trip to Boston?"

"Of course. I don't expect to delete that data file any time soon."

"Well, we're going back. I need something, and if I can't have it back here in an hour, it could mean the end of someone's life."

Sappho gasped. "Termination? Who, _Shego_?"

Kim nodded. "Maybe. Ron and his parents too. I want to be with them, but I need to get to Boston, and you're the fastest ride I know."

"Please, come in," Sappho said, opening her hatch. "And buckle yourself in. Conventional speed limits don't apply to the engines Dr. Freeman designed. Otherwise it'd take me the rest of his lifetime just to reach Jupiter. So prepare yourself."

"No big," Kim assured her as she sat in the pilot's seat and strapped herself in. "I've been in some of the fastest rides on this earth."

"Mmm-hmmm," Sappho said noncommittally. She made a peculiar clicking sound, as if she were tapping a finger. "Might as well do it in style."

Sappho's exterior shimmered, and the color of the hull changed to hot pink.

The doors slowly opened with her computerized command, and she gently rose from the ground and sailed out.

"Blast off," Sappho murmured.

Then she was gone.

Kim's eyes grew wide. "Whoooaaaaaaahhhhhhh!"

"I wonder if Mach 10 is fast enough," Sappho said thoughtfully. "This is life-or-death. Maybe Mach 12, just to be safe. Kim, what do you think?"

"Can't . . . move . . . lips . . ."

"Oh! I'm terribly sorry, Kim. We self-automated machines can be so forgetful. Dampeners on."

Kim found she could breathe through her nose again.

* * *

"What can I do?" Sadie asked as she idled near Ron and Shego.

"Maybe nothing yet," Shego said. "If we hurt her too much, she could run off again. Then it might be Kim's family she goes after next."

"Can we focus on saving MY family first?"

"Rufus and Ruby should go their own way," Shego replied. "I'm not sure if the Supreme One even remembers if they exist. In fact, since you only bought Ruby a few months ago, there's no way she could know about her. Maybe if we can distract her, the rats can free your parents. Sadie, why don't you scout out the area, find a place where the Supreme One can't see you but where you can grab the 'rents quick if they escape?"

"Sounds like a good idea," Sadie said grudgingly. Her dislike for Shego was, like so much else, in direct contrast to Sappho.

"Think Kim will get back in time with the thingamabob?" Ron asked.

"Depends how much time we give her," Shego replied. "I vote we kick her ass and give Kim as much time as possible."

"If you don't seem to be succeeding at the ass-kicking part," Sadie pointed out, "I'm frying her."

"Go ahead," Shego said. "It'll be interesting to see her heal from THAT."

As Sadie quietly drove off, Shego looked at Ron. "Uh, look, Stoppable - "

"Don't ask me to keep out of your way," he muttered. "She took my parents, Shego. I want to make her hurt."

"That wasn't what I was going to say," she retorted. "I - well, damn it. I'm gonna try to be a little - nicer to you from now on." Her face looked like she'd eaten something curdled.

Ron stared at her. "Shego, if you're trying to boost my morale, you're only creeping me out here."

"Look, maybe you're not quite as useless as I always thought. I mean, you're the one the Supreme One wants to kill, not Kim. You must contribute - something."

"Of all the ways I imagined you'd damn me, faint praise wasn't one of them. Trust me, I'd gleefully be completely useless in a fight if it meant my parents weren't the ones her prisoner." He paused and looked at her hesitantly. "A little nicer?"

"Yeah."

"Then don't rip my head off. But I don't want you getting all heat-of-the-moment down there."

"What?"

"First priority - save my folks. If they get hurt because you get so caught up in being the top dog in a fight that you missed an opportunity to get them out of harm's way, I'm going to be - a little less nice to you."

Shego grinned. "Aww, Ron, are you threatening me? That's so cute. Maybe you really ARE less than 100 useless."

"Okay, the world is starting to make sense again"

* * *

"What do you have against our son anyway?" Mr. Stoppable demanded. "I thought the two of you had become friendlier."

The Supreme One sighed and muttered some choice deprecations under her breath. Apparently her younger self had become a bit more touchy-feely than she'd previously admitted. She was going to be sick.

"Is this because of Kim?" Mrs. Stoppable asked in a voice that carried a hint of sympathy. "I realize Ron wasn't accepting of the relationship at first, but I thought he'd come around. Anyway, I don't see how kidnapping us is going to help matters."

"Relationship?"

"Well - you probably would prefer that it wasn't publicized, but Ron did tell us that you and Kim were in a romantic relationship. He was very upset about it, you know. Don't worry, we haven't talked to anyone about it. And we've always tried to bring Ron up in a Reform household. Kim is a lovely woman, and if she has feelings for you, then we would encourage her to explore them."

She looked at them, dumbfounded.

In a world without the Supreme One, Shego started dating . . . Kim Possible?

The Supreme One had been right. She felt sick to her very core. Her humiliation was complete. Instead of ruler of the world, she'd become a shadow of her old self, having _literally_ gotten into bed with her former enemies.

How she hated her double. Maybe she needed to die too. Admittedly, she wasn't sure if she COULD kill her younger self without ceasing to exist as well. But she _was_ defying logic by her very existence already. Why not push the envelope?

"Listen," the Supreme One growled. "I am not who you think I am. The Shego you've heard about is someone else, and she's probably going to be here any moment with your beloved Kim and Ron."

The Stoppables looked at each other. "Ron told us about clones, but I never really believed him," Mr. Stoppable finally said.

The Supreme One's cry of rage split the air.

* * *

"That's definitely her," Shego said dryly as they stealthily circled the concession stand. The Supreme One's scream echoed across the field.

Ron took his mole rats out of his pockets. "Rufus. Ruby. You know what trouble my parents are in."

They nodded solemnly. Ruby wiped away a tear.

"Take the bleachers, get behind her - wherever she is - and free them. Sadie will play welcome wagon once they're all right. Got it?"

"Yes!" Ruby cheered as she held aloft a thumb.

Rufus smiled and nodded.

"Okay, go."

They leapt from his palms and began running down the benches.

"Here goes nothing," he said to Shego then.

They looked carefully out onto the field, the high school itself having shown no signs of forced entry. Sure enough, the Supreme One was standing at the fifty-yard line in the exact center of the field. Ron's parents were sitting on the turf, their hands evidently tied behind their backs.

"Right out in the open," Shego said. "She obviously doesn't plan to be surprised."

"Why would she be surprised? She told us to be here."

Shego sighed.

"Well, since we can't surprise her . . ." Ron suddenly sprinted out toward the field.

"Ron, no!" She rushed after him and practically tackled him as he reached the out-of-bounds line.

"Ooh, just short of a first down."

Ron and Shego looked up. The Supreme One was just ten yards away (the lines on the field made it easy to tell).

"And here I thought you preferred rolling around with _Kimmie_," the Supreme One continued, looking at Shego with an ugly expression on her face.

"We haven't actually reached that stage in our relationship," Shego replied calmly as she stood up. "At least I don't have to mindwipe my lovers so they don't have to remember spending time with the likes of you."

The Supreme One sneered at her. "At least I'm not so soft that I've learned to enjoy being on my knees."

Ron got up. "Maybe you two could take the sexual banter elsewhere? You're embarrassing my parents."

"Oh no," the Supreme One hissed. "You'll have to go through me if you want to prevent them any further mortification. Just so you know, I prefer mortification of the flesh."

"I didn't know you could blush," Ron said. "And if you prefer blushing, why not just say that, instead of that fancy word?"

The Supreme One growled and clenched her fists, generating her plasma energy. "I'll never understand how I was beaten by someone so STUPID!"

"Hey, you take that back! No clone talks about my son that way!" Mrs. Stoppable shouted.

She spun around. "The next person to call me a clone gets their face burned off!" the Supreme One screamed, raising a glowing fist in the air.

"Hey, clone."

The Supreme One wasn't fast enough as Shego caught her by the wrist and rammed her foot into her belly. The older woman exhaled loudly as she bent double.

"Maybe you should take some anger management classes while we're at the 're-education center'," Shego said mockingly as she made quotation marks with her fingers.

Enraged, her double attacked.

* * *

"That's a space-time continuum disruptor?" Sappho asked. "It looks a little small."

"In high school, I watched this machine make a fifty-foot-tall monster disappear," Kim told her. "Justine did me a big favor when she let me borrow this." She frowned. "A big favor," she said again.

"I'm sure she did. Kim? I believe there are fighter planes behind us."

"Can't you outrun them like the last few times?"

"Of course I can! I just thought you'd like to know."

"If it happens again, I don't need to be notified."

"Got it."

Kim looked up at the screen. "You know, Team Possible depends a lot on the kindness of others, doesn't it?"

"I don't follow."

"You and Sadie are on loan from Dr. Freeman."

"Well, you didn't exactly ask him for permission tonight. I chose to help you on my own. I am self-automated, after all."

"Right," Kim admitted, smiling. "Still, all our technology was designed, free of charge, by Wade. Our transportation, even before you and Sadie came along, was provided by people we'd helped."

"You've made a lot of friends in your line of work."

"Yeah. It's not enough, though."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean - we're saving the world on a biweekly basis, it feels like. I always knew it would take a full-time commitment, but I never really understood what a full-time _job_ it is. Maybe Shego's right. Maybe we should start charging some of these people. Enough to be able to afford world-saving technology on our own, rather than depending on the generosity of others."

"You mean you wouldn't help someone if they couldn't pay you? That doesn't sound like you, Kim."

"I'm not saying that! I'm just - I don't know what. Maybe I'm not thinking clearly. I'm worried about Ron and Shego. What if I'm too late?"

Kim considered raising the other alternative, that she might arrive in time and use the device to destroy the Supreme One, only to lose Shego forever. But she knew how much Sappho liked Shego, and the possibility that she might slow down rather than help start Shego's life over from scratch, however slim, kept her quiet.

* * *

"You really are soft," the Supreme One said, an insane grin on her face as she continued to push downward. Shego had her hands around both of the Supreme One's wrists, but she sweated as the glowing green fire pressed slowly, inexorably toward her face. "But then, ten years of personally whipping my more disobedient subjects does do a lot for one's upper body strength." She didn't even bother to blast Shego with her gloves, wanting to feel her flesh burn under her touch.

"I'm a - little distracted," Shego said through gritted teeth.

"Oh? Thinking of your mistress?"

The Supreme One heard a tiny click, and she froze.

"Actually," Shego said, "I never tried to unlock my old gloves while someone else was wearing them. It was harder than I thought."

Her foot lashed out, catching the Supreme One right under her throat. The force of the kick not only knocked her backwards, but also ripped her hands right out of her gloves, leaving them bare.

"Gee, you're just losing everything dear to you, aren't you?" Shego asked. "Not to mention the things you hate." She looked pointedly over the Supreme One's shoulder.

The Supreme One turned and saw the Stoppables climbing into the back of Sadie. The ropes that had bound them lay on the ground in frayed pieces. Rufus waved at the Supreme One and blew a raspberry.

"No!" the Supreme One screamed. She pointed a hand in their direction before she remembered that she no longer wore her gloves. She turned again to face Shego. "Give them - back?"

Shego was gone.

"You fucking COWARD!" the Supreme One jeered.

"I thought I was the one you wanted to kill."

She stopped and smiled leisurely. "Stoppable," she said, looking to her right. "I bet you're feeling pretty cocky, what with me weaponless and your parents safe."

"I'm a little pissed. Will that do?"

"Hey, I'm a little pissed too. Let's be pissed off together."

Ron raised one foot, held his arms at a right angle, and made exaggerated noises in response.

"Oh, brother," the Supreme One muttered as her fist landed squarely on his nose.

Meanwhile, Shego panted as she leaned against the concession stand and carefully slid off the gloves Senior Senior had designed for her. "You be good now," she murmured as she slid them into the pocket on her leg. "I'm not through with you guys yet. That being said . . ."

She slid on the gloves she'd stolen from the Supreme One, locked them in place, and snapped her fingers. They energized, bathing her face in a green glow.

"Oh, yes," she whispered. "Oh baby, I am BACK."

* * *

"Approaching Middleton High," Sappho told her.

"Can you give me a better visual?" Kim asked.

"Naturally."

Kim quickly spotted motion on the football field. "There!"

Sappho zoomed in on the athletic field, revealing Ron - "Ouch," Kim muttered as Ron got flipped onto his back. She couldn't see any green flashes coming from the Supreme One, which was something to be grateful for at least. But Shego - where was Shego?

"Can you contact Sadie, ask her what the sitch is?"

"I'm already being hailed, actually. Sadie?"

"Sappho? Is Kim there?"

"I'm right here, Sadie, and I have the disruptor. What's going on?"

"I've got Ron's parents in the back seat. They're fine. Ron and Shego are still fighting the Supreme One. I told them I'd use my disintegrator ray on her if I had to, but it hasn't gotten that bad. Not yet, anyway. Ron is - "

"I know, I can see," Kim sighed. "Outclassed."

"She _does_ have an edge in experience, even without the gloves."

"Wait, without the gloves?"

"Somehow Shego got them away from her. Oh, there she goes now. She certainly looks happy."

Kim had spotted her as well. She could see from the moving green lights that Shego was the one with the plasma gloves, not the Supreme One. "Wicked," she breathed. "Sappho, land behind the Supreme One. Hopefully we can generate a portal behind her, allowing Shego to push her in."

"On it."

* * *

"You think you're all that, but you're not," the Supreme One chuckled as she swept Ron's legs out from under him. The few blows he'd landed had healed long ago. He'd improved since the time she'd encountered him in the future, but not by enough.

"Sounding like Drakken now?" he asked as he rubbed blood from his lip. "You really have hit rock bottom."

"Oh, she can sink lower."

The Supreme One glanced up in time to catch a splash of plasma across her right shoulder. She screamed and stumbled backwards.

Ron looked up and saw Shego standing there, her hands glowing with so much green flame that it was almost dripping onto the grass. She looked at the Supreme One with eyes of pure malice. "Heh heh, scared now," he muttered, scrambling backwards.

"None of them get it," Shego said. "Not John Acceptable, not Drakken, not Dementor, not even you. You hurt me? I'll just come back stronger, and the next time, I win."

The Supreme One spat at her feet. "That should be my line," she said as her shoulder slowly repaired itself. "My body is healing faster than you can hurt it."

"At the cost of unraveling space and time - no problem, right?"

"Say what?"

"You don't belong here, Creamed One. If you stay too long, you could end up destroying the universe."

"Hey, I almost died, so if you think I'm giving up my second chance, you're crazier than I am," the Supreme One shot back. "Besides, I like the sound of that. Shego, Destroyer of Worlds."

"Doy. I think we can safely say no one is crazier than you," Shego replied before she tumbled forward and slashed both claws out in an "X" formation, gouging bloody lines across her chest. A follow-up burst knocked the Supreme One onto her back.

The Supreme One staggered onto her feet, but Shego responded with a massive uppercut swipe that sliced her chest from her right hip to her left shoulder, splashing blood across Shego's face. It quickly became a repeat of their fight earlier in the apartment, as Shego inflicted wounds that closed almost as soon as they appeared. This time, however, the pain she caused the Supreme One was trebled by the burning, bubbling flames.

How long this could have been kept up was hard to say. None would ever know, because they were interrupted by lights and fierce winds as something large descended behind them. The Supreme One's eyes went up and up as she took in the giant pink flying machine. "A U.F.O.? You got a fricking UFO?"

"Word to the wise - she likes being called a UFO about as much as you like being called a clone," Shego murmured before slicing open the Supreme One's back and kicking her forward.

The hatch slowly opened and Kim strode out, the disruptor in both hands. "Not your night, is it, Supreme One?" she asked loudly.

"Kimmie," the Supreme One breathed. "You must enjoy seeing this, your greatest conquest fighting herself to curry your favor. Maybe you'll give her a hug or two after this."

Kim just looked at her. This could be the last minute Shego spent in her life, and she didn't even have the time to savor it. It was only fitting that the Supreme One was between them. She was already tearing them apart. "If she's still here after this, I'll give her anything she wants." Then she set the disruptor down.

"What? A death ray?" the Supreme One sneered. "Killing me once wasn't enough?"

Kim flinched, even though she had no memory of pushing this woman out a window. "I guess I always had to finish a job once started." She reached down and flicked the switch.

Bright light blinded them all for a moment. When Kim's vision returned, Shego and the Supreme One were obscured by a shimmering haze in the sky between them, like a floating pool of water. "Nice," she muttered. "Shego?"

"Still here, Kimmie," Shego called back. "For a few seconds more, anyway." She glared at the Supreme One. "A few seconds longer than you, at least."

"Whatever you think you're doing, it won't work," the Supreme One hissed, holding her hands protectively in front of her body. But she was obviously torn between backing away from Shego and toward the portal, or approaching Shego and receiving more punishment.

"Thanks for the gloves," Shego replied. "Now it's your turn to receive, not give." She began generating a larger than usual charge in her gloves.

The Supreme One attempted to dart around Shego, but the younger woman was too fast and she grabbed the Supreme One by the arm, the flames on her hand immediately searing the flesh. She screamed in agony.

"Funny, that's how I feel," Shego thought as she let go of the arm a moment before burying her other fist in the Supreme One's gut.

The blast knocked her clean off her feet. She sailed through the air and landed directly within the portal.

For a moment, she was perfectly still.

Then she began screaming.

Kim put her hands over her ears. If that was what "ceasing to exist" felt like, then she never wanted that to happen to her.

Or . . .

"Shego!!!"

To be concluded . . .


	7. Chapter Seven

Title: But For the Grace of Ron (7/7)  
Author: Allaine

Rating: PG-13

Spoilers: Takes place after "No Living in the Past". Knowledge of the events in "A Sitch in Time" would be helpful.  
Feedback: Some of you have been extremely helpful, and I hope you'll continue to do so. New reader opinions are encouraged too!  
Disclaimers: Kim Possible, Ron Stoppable, Shego, Wade, and all other characters from the Kim Possible television series belong to Disney, its television production arm, and the creators and producers of the animated series. All original characters are my invention. I seek no profit from writing this, and expect none.  
Summary: Exiled from her time and trapped in a past she doesn't recognize, the Supreme One from "Sitch in Time" wants to resurrect her future and destroy Team Possible. But what if stopping her means Kim and Shego - never met?

Chapter 7

Kim didn't even consider whether or not it was dangerous to remain close to the portal. She circled around it, needing to see how Shego was. The Supreme One was still screaming, and because their voices were so similar, there was no way for Kim to tell if Shego was screaming as well.

Before she could move completely around the portal, however, there was a small explosion from within, followed by a wave of energy that swept out in all directions. Kim caught it in her chest. She grunted as it lifted her up and knocked her ten feet away. Landing on her back, Kim lay there for a minute, unable to catch her breath. Her ribs groaned, and she felt relieved when she touched her chest and her hand came away unbloodied.

"Shego," she whispered.

"KP?! KP!!"

"Ron?" Kim asked as Ron stumbled over to her and helped her sit up. "What the hell was THAT?"

"Beats me," he said. "I hit the dirt when the Supreme One began screaming. Whatever that wave was, it passed right over me."

Kim grabbed his shirt. "Shego - what happened to her?"

"I don't know, I don't see her anywhere."

She felt her eyes tear up. "What if she's gone, Ron?"

Ron looked confused for a moment. "Wouldn't we have forgotten her then?"

Kim stopped. "You're right," she realized. "We wouldn't remember her. Shego! SHEGO!" she called out, struggling to her feet with Ron's help. "Ron, where was she standing?"

"In front of the portal, over - huh, no more portal."

Kim looked where Ron was pointing, and sure enough, both the portal and the Supreme One had vanished. Sappho appeared to be at an odd angle, however. Small crackles of electricity danced around the spaceship's middle.

"Ron, you go see if Sappho is still functioning. If Shego was still standing like I was, then the energy wave must have knocked her backwards too." She ran in the direction she'd seen Shego last.

"Shego!"

"I'm fine!" Shego snarled in the darkness a few feet to her right. "Jeez, you can stop calling my name already."

Instead of replying at first, Kim found Shego, fell to her knees, and pulled her into a fierce hug. "I'll say your name as many times as I want," she murmured into Shego's hair, "as long as you're still here."

Shego blinked, startled, but then she pressed closer to Kim and put a hand on Kim's waist. "I am, aren't I?"

"You are," Kim confirmed, smiling like an idiot.

"So she was lying after all," Shego said. "Making me worry like that - she really was a psychopathic bitch, wasn't she?"

"She was," Kim agreed. "Not that she ever existed."

Shego chuckled. "Yeah, that's true. Although why do we still remember her then?"

"Let's leave that to Dr. Director, okay?"

"No problem. This time crap makes my head hurt." She pulled away from Kim and ran a hand through her hair. Her hand stopped in mid-motion, however. Shego held out her hands and looked at them. "Oh, fuck," she whispered. Then she fell back and beat her head against the turf. "Fuck, fuck."

"What?!" Kim asked, panicking.

Shego held up her bare hands. "When the Supreme One stopped existing, so did her gloves. Damn it!"

"Huh?"

"I swiped her own gloves and wore them myself. It was so _good_ having my plasma gloves back! But now they're gone too."

"Uh, Shego? You're still you, and you're bitching about your gloves?"

"I've got to bitch about something," Shego muttered. "Or people will start to wonder about me." She frowned. "I would have sworn she was telling the truth. Those gloves HAD to have been from the future. No one's ever been able to duplicate the technology. Now I don't even know where they came from!"

Kim shrugged. "Is it important? Maybe some other kindly time traveler took pity on you."

"Took _pity_ on me?" Shego got up. "Oh, that tears it. When I find this person, I'm kicking their ass."

"Hey, girls!" Ron came running over. "Sappho's a little off her game."

"She must have had a few circuits fried," Kim said.

They followed Ron and found Sadie communicating with Sappho. "How is she, Sadie?" Kim asked.

"She's been flirting with Ron," Sadie said. "Obviously she's got a switch flipped somewhere."

"All the robot ladies are lovin' the Ronster!" Ron said, pointing at himself.

Sappho continued to lean drunkenly on the football field. Her hull was now purple with orange polka dots. "Shego?" she asked, sounding dazed. "You are unharmed?"

"Yeah, I'm good," Shego said.

"That is - good. I've been meaning to ask you. Don't you think Ron has the nicest ears?"

Kim quickly covered her smile with her hands as Shego just stared at the ship.

Ron grinned at Shego. "Hey, let's hear some of that 'being nice to me'. Tell me how sexy my ears are."

"You're right, Stoppable. I can't resist touching them," Shego said. She reached over and grabbed one of his ears, twisting it.

"Ow!"

"Out of the way," Shego then said, moving past him. "It's time I remind the ship who her favorite pilot is."

She vaulted over Sadie and entered the spaceship.

For a moment there was quiet as the ship was powered down.

Then the ship's hull went back to hot pink.

"Oh, YES!"

Kim almost jumped out of her shoes.

Shego strolled back out. "All better," she said.

"Shego, you can handle my control panel any time," Sappho purred.

Kim and Ron gaped at Shego. "What the hell did you DO in there?" Kim finally asked.

"Nothing really. I just rebooted her, grabbed the pilot's stick, and squeezed."

"Ewww," Rufus said.

"Ditto," Kim agreed.

"You are NOT repeating that in front of Doctor Freeman," Sadie warned her. "I swear, you're the only thing dirtier than Sappho's CPU."

"At least _my_ CPU came with a personality chip!"

"Kim, Shego's making sexual remarks about a spaceship, and the machines are arguing again. Make it stop," Ron said, hiding behind her.

Kim just shook her head. "Come on, guys, let's get Ron's parents home."

(scene change - horizontal line button not working)

"Fascinating," Doctor Director said thirty minutes later. "I should write a paper on this. The Supreme One has ceased to exist, and all traces of her world have been extinguished. So why do we all remember her?"

"Hey, you're the expert. We're the ones asking questions," Shego muttered.

"Just thinking out loud, Shego," Dr. Director replied. "I do have a theory, however."

"Well?" Kim asked.

"First of all, the energy wave that emanated from the portal? That may have been the energy the Supreme One was unwittingly borrowing from the fabric of the space-time continuum. It was that energy, as I suggested earlier, that was fueling her healing powers. When she ceased to exist, however, the energy returned to the continuum in a single violent burst, striking some of you."

"And our memories?"

"Two possibilities," Dr. Director said. "One is that because those energies were a part of the Supreme One, in some small way the Supreme One became a part of the continuum when the energies were returned. Therefore she is still a part of our world, and remains in our memories."

Kim frowned. "I guess that kind of makes sense. What about the other possibility?"

"Well, if the Supreme One never existed, then the last few hours would have changed. Monique never would have been attacked, the Supreme One never would have called Shego at the nightclub, and so on. None of us would have any memories of these events, and in fact Monique would be completely unharmed while you and Shego might be at the Planetarium even now. The fact that none of this has happened suggests that a new alternate universe has been created."

"A new what?"

"Some have theorized that there an infinite number of alternate dimensions, each one created by a single decision that affected the flow of future events. For example, there may be another world somewhere out there exactly like ours - except in that world, Columbus never sailed to the Caribbean, and everything after that changed."

The faces of Kim, Shego, and Ron all showed their growing confusion.

"Therefore," Dr. Director went on blithely, "a new universe was born with the Supreme One's destruction. In one, she never appeared. In the other - ours - the aftereffects of her coming remain."

"I don't get it," Ron said.

"Neither do I," Shego said.

"I _think_ I get it," Kim said.

Shego looked at her.

Kim caved. "All right, I don't understand either. Happy?"

"Very," Shego said with a leer.

Dr. Director sighed. "Look at it this way - does it really matter why we remember her? She IS gone, after all."

"Works for me!" Ron said.

"Thank you for all your help, Dr. Director," Kim said, rising.

"Don't mention it. I think I _will_ write that paper. Temporal mechanics needs all the live data it can get."

Kim hesitated. "Before we go, could I speak to you privately for a minute?"

"Of course, Kim."

Kim looked at the others. "Wait for me outside?"

"Shego, you lucky girl," Ron said. "You get alone time with the Ronster, the guy all the robot chicks dig."

"Alone time with those lovely ears too," Shego murmured. Having put her older gloves back on, she snapped her fingers and moved them toward Ron's left ear.

"Aaaah!" he cried out, running for the front door. "Cold hands!"

Shego chortled and pursued him.

Kim sighed.

"They certainly are interesting together," Dr. Director mused. "So what's the problem?"

"I've been thinking," Kim said quietly. "If Team Possible is going to continue full-time, how am I going to finance the things we need? Are we going to be hitching rides forever?"

Dr. Director paused. "And you're asking me because - "

"Because you were only the head of Global Justice for years!" Kim said. "You've been in charge of an organization dedicated to fighting evil."

"We did have government funding, Kim," Dr. Director said. "I highly doubt you want to become an agency of the federal government."

Kim's shoulders slumped. "No, I just . . ."

"I completely understand, Kim."

"You do?"

"Of course. You and your friends have the potential to help this world for years and years to come," Dr. Director said. "I mean, look what happened tonight. You may have saved the entire universe! Kim, you need to remain at the forefront."

Kim nodded. "I was thinking the same thing. I can't sit back and allow the Acceptables and Supreme Ones and Drakkens to take over."

"Have you thought about charging for your services?"

"That - that's what Shego's been saying!" She frowned. "But isn't that kind of unseemly?"

"Well, I'm not saying you should expect payment before saving the world," Dr. Director replied. "But there are different degrees to the things you do. When a corporation asks you to recover stolen property the police can't find, for example, I think it's only fair that you should receive some form of compensation. When someone threatens to melt the ice caps with a giant laser, on the other hand, I'd suggest taking it on pro bono."

"I don't even have a college degree, Dr. Director," Kim said. "I can't go on missions AND make it into a business." She stopped. "But you could."

"I beg your pardon?"

"You ran GJ! Why don't you try running Team Possible too?"

"Kim, you're the leader. The team IS named after you, you know."

"Yeah, but you could handle the organizational aspects. Part of your job at GJ was being an administrator. You have years of experience none of us have. I just - " Kim looked down. "I've got enough pressure as it is. This would be a _huge_ step. I just wish someone could help me with this."

Dr. Director looked at her calmly. "You do take on as much responsibility as you can manage, don't you? And then you add more."

Kim shrugged. "I can do anything, remember?"

"Naturally. All right. I will do it under strict conditions."

Kim's head rose. "Name them."

"One, you will finish getting your college degree."

"You sound like my mother."

"Two, I will handle the organizational and financial aspects of the group until one of you learns how to handle them yourselves. However, all leadership decisions in the field remain up to the three of you. Three is Thomas. I'll need to have him with me at all times."

"Hey, no problem," Kim said. "Feel free to spend a few company dollars to buy him more gadgets to tinker with. He could build us the next grappling hook gun."

Dr. Director chuckled. "Or something even bigger," she agreed. "Finally, when we receive hits at your website, I will recommend a suitable price to charge, or whether we should do it for free. I expect that, except for extreme situations, you will accept my recommendation."

Kim nodded. "It's not an easy decision for me to make. I'll need you to be firm with me."

"Kim Possible, I managed thousands of GJ agents. I can be firm. And then I can be _strict_. All right, Kim. When your team has a building you can call headquarters, let me know."

"Thank you," Kim said gratefully. She went over and hugged her.

Dr. Director looked surprised. Then she smiled. "You're welcome. It will be good to get back in the game."

"You have no idea how good," Kim agreed.

(scene change)

"Team Possible, Inc.?" Shego asked later that night, when night had practically become dawn.

Kim smiled and snuggled against her. They were cuddling lazily on Kim's bed, Shego's apartment being less than habitable now. "Sounds stupid, I know."

"Stupid, hell. It's you admitting I was right." Shego grinned. "You know I love to win."

"We'll still be doing missions for free," Kim said. "But those who can pay for our services - "

"I got it, Kim," Shego said. "You want to talk about tonight?"

"I was so afraid I wouldn't even get to say goodbye to you," Kim said softly.

Shego sighed. "So was I," she admitted. Then she scowled. "Damn it, why do I get so mushy around you?"

"Because not even time and space could keep us apart?" Kim asked, smiling.

"It might have something to do with the fact that you and I are spooning right now, too."

Kim agreed that feeling Shego's body against her own only seemed to amplify the connection they shared. "You think this will all last? You, me, us, Team Possible, all of it?"

"Beats me. That's why I don't get why I ever wanted a time machine. I prefer to live in the now, not in the past."

"And what do you think of 'the now'?"

Shego climbed over Kim and lay back down so they were facing each other. "I think 'the now' is pretty frigging great."

Kim moved forward and kissed her on the lips. "And now?"

"Now is looking better by the minute," Shego murmured before capturing Kim's mouth in a longer kiss.

And that was basically the end of the conversation.

(scene change)

Shego looked dubiously at the gloves she'd been given. "Are you serious?" she asked. "They don't even match."

"Try wearing something that goes with them," the other person said as they lurked in the shadows, leaving a frustrated Shego unable to see who it was. "Maybe something green and black, something form-fitting?"

"I _do_ like the colors," Shego admitted. She put them on and locked them as instructed. When she snapped her fingers, her hands were bathed in green fire. "Cooool," she whispered. She waved one hand, and accidentally blasted a hole in a nearby trash dumpster. "Oh, I could definitely get used to these. How much you - want?"

Shego realized her mysterious benefactor had vanished.

"Damn," she muttered. "Still, I do love freebies. If you can't enjoy free stuff, then how can you be a thief? And with these - screw that jerk who turned me down tonight. I'm going to be more than just an ordinary henchwoman with these. I could even be - a sidekick!"

The teenage girl deactivated the gloves and strutted out of the alley, a new added confidence in her step.

High above her, her benefactor climbed over the roof's edge and stood up, brushing the dust from her outfit. "I cannot believe I just did that," she said. "Do you _realize_ how many crimes I've abetted by giving those to her?"

"Look at it this way," Shego, one much older than the woman on the street below, said. "You're also saving the space-time continuum." She studied the display on the band on her wrist. "And judging by these readings, that's what we've done. No indication that the timestream has been adversely affected in any way."

Kim grinned. "Remember when temporal mechanics was something we didn't get?"

"We were so young then," Shego agreed, pulling her in for a kiss. "So has the passion gone out of the relationship yet?"

"Are you kidding? With the adrenaline we burn every day?"

"True," Shego said. "We'd better get back to our time. I'm not sure how long Team Stoppable can survive without the leaders of Team Possible and Team Go to bail him out of a jam."

"Remember when we were younger and you said you were going to be nicer to him?"

"No . . . no, sorry. Old age, you know."

"You're not even fifty!"

"I'm nice to him."

"You once scheduled a mission on his anniversary."

Shego chuckled. "Yeah, that was great. 'What's that, Ron? Tomorrow's your wedding anniversary? Sorry, my team has a mission, and seeing as how your honey's on my squad, I guess you'll have to postpone.' God, you should have seen the look on his face. I wish I had a camera that day."

Kim shook her head. "You're incorrigible."

"Yup." Shego pushed a couple buttons on the band around her wrist, and a beam emanated from the device, creating a man-sized portal in midair. "Time travel - ain't it cool?"

"I'll pass your appreciation along to Tommy," Kim said dryly as they walked through the portal, hand in hand. "You know how he loves being - "

Then they were gone.

The End.

To be continued in If You Build a Better Monkey!

Their relationship for once secure, Kim and Shego follow a lead to central Africa, where Monkey Fist and a new ally believe that with their new and improved minions, the world will beat a path to their door.

(Author's Note - Thank you to all my new and old readers who have reviewed this fic. I realize it's shorter than the others, but it's actually longer than I originally planned. It was always meant to be a relatively short story. The next - and last - two stories will be longer.)


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